DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team will continue the conference slate with a four-game series at Richmond this weekend at Pitt Field. The Flyers will open with a 10 a.m. game on Friday. That game was originally scheduled for 3 p.m. before being bumped up due to expected inclement weather in the area. UD will also play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. before finishing the series on Sunday at 12 p.m.
 
All four contests will feature both live stats and a broadcast with a paid subscription to ESPN+.
 
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Dayton will play for the first time since April 18 when the Flyers took three out of four games from George Mason to put the team's record at 14-23 and 4-4 in Atlantic 10 play. UD fell in the series opener at Day Air Ballpark, home of the Dayton Dragons, on Friday, with a late comeback coming up just short despite a home run by junior Marcos Pujols. Saturday brought a two-game doubleheader sweep of the Patriots and the Flyers took the series with a 14-3 mercy-rule victory in seven innings on Sunday.
 
The Flyers received a big performance from junior Benjamin Blackwell, who went 9-14 on the series with two home runs and seven RBI in the four-game set against George Mason. Blackwell leads the team with a .360 batting average and is one of four Flyers to have started in every game this season. That average is good for seventh in the conference and his 50 hits leads the Atlantic 10. Senior Mariano Ricciardi enters the series with a 17-game hitting streak dating back to March 26, ranking fourth in the conference in hits and 11^th in on-base percentage with a .449 OBP. Senior Riley Tirotta leads UD with 11 home runs and 43 RBI while also sporting a .331 batting average, tied for second on the team.
 
Senior Hunter Wolfe has been the main force in the rotation for the Flyers. The lefty ranks third in the conference in strikeouts with 70 and eighth with a 3.44 earned run average in 55 innings over nine starts for Dayton. Wolfe ranks fifth in program history with 195 strikeouts in his career at UD. He sits 23 behind Luke Trubee, who struck out 218 hitters from 2003-06. Freshman Parker Bard also is coming off a strong performance. In his first career collegiate start, Bard allowed just three runs and struck out 10 Patriots over six innings on the mound. Graduate student Ben Olson has allowed just one earned run and has 13 strikeouts over his last 13.1 innings on the mound.
 
SCOUTING THE SPIDERS
Richmond enters the series with a 16-8 overall record and are 2-2 in A-10 play in 2021. The Spiders split a four-game series with Davidson this past weekend in the program's first conference action of the season. A 6-4 victory for Richmond on Friday was followed with a doubleheader split on Saturday and a loss on Sunday to give the Spiders a 2-2 record. Picked to finish sixth in the A-10 in the Preseason Coaches Poll, Richmond has won three series this season.
 
Drew Blakely leads the team offensively with a .392 batting average through 21 games this season, good for second in the Atlantic 10 behind his teammate Jared Sprague-Lott, who is the conference leader, hitting .512 in 2021. They are two of four Spiders to rank in the top 10 in the A-10 in batting average, with Rich Ciufo and Dominic Toso joining them. Sprague-Lott also ranks first on Richmond with 23 RBI, while Anthony Forte has been the leading power source with four home runs.
 
Alden Mathes has been a consistent component of Richmond's pitching staff with a 2.93 ERA through 15.1 innings of work this season. Mathes also has one save for the Spiders, which is tied with Jacob Marcus for the team lead. Marcus ranks second in the A-10 with a .155 opposing batting average this season, one of two on the team in the Atlantic 10's top 10 in the category, along with Colby Wyatt with a .231 ranking ninth. Wyatt has made six starts for the team this year and has Richmond's lone complete game this year.
 
MATCHUP HISTORY
This will mark the 37^th time these two teams have met with Dayton holding a 21-15 series lead over the Spiders.