DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team will play a pair of midweek contests against Wright State and Northern Kentucky. The Flyers will head across town to take on the Raiders Tuesday at 3 p.m. before playing their home opener Wednesday at 3 p.m. against the Norse at Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium.
 
Both contests will have live stats and will feature a radio broadcast from Gem City Sports Network. Wednesday's home opener will also feature an ESPN+ broadcast.
 
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Dayton is off to its best start since 2008 with a 7-3 record through the first 10 games and three series wins. UD most recently won two out of three against Belmont, scoring 23 runs in three games against the Bruins, who entered the series with the third best ERA in Division I.
 
The Flyers fell on Friday despite a 2-for-4 effort from graduate student Henry Strmecki. Strmecki homered and drove in four runs, but Dayton fell 7-6. Senior Marcos Pujols and junior Keagan Calero powered the offense to a win on Saturday, each picking up their first home run of the season. Senior Jay Curtis went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and junior Ryan Steinhauer picked up his first win of the season, striking out six over 5.1 innings. Strmecki also provided heroics on Sunday, capping off a five-run ninth inning with a go-ahead two-run double to give Dayton an 11-9 win. Curtis added three doubles in that contest as well.
 
Calero leads the Flyers with a .412 batting average through the first 10 games. The Dayton third baseman has a hit in eight of ten games this season and his 14 hits and .524 on-base percentage pace the Flyers. Curtis leads the team with five doubles and has a six-game hitting streak entering the week, and Strmecki has two home runs to go with his team-leading nine RBIs.
 
Graduate student Andrew Zapka and senior Bryce Hellgeth have been strong out of the Dayton bullpen. Zapka has 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings to go with a 1-0 record and a save, while Hellgeth has a 1.17 ERA in 7.2 innings and eight strikeouts. Sophomore Anthony Hattrup is scheduled to make his second start of the season on Tuesday, as he enters with a 1.35 ERA and six strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
 
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Wright State enters with a 1-8 record, but has already played two Top 25 opponents in Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State. The Raiders played four games last week, falling at Oral Roberts Monday and dropping two of three at Virginia Tech over the weekend.
The Horizon League Preseason Poll saw the Raiders picked to win the conference, taking home six first place votes behind 2021 Coach of the Year Alex Sogard. Wright State made the NCAA Tournament in 2021 after winning the Horizon League a year ago and winning 35 games.
 
Justin McConnell leads the Raiders with a .320 batting average in eight starts with Alec Sayre right behind him with a .308 and the team lead with 12 hits. Gehrig Anglin has reached base in all nine games for the Raiders, and his four home runs lead Wright State as do his seven RBIs.
 
Garret Simpson has been strong out of the bullpen leading the team with a 3.72 ERA and 10 K's in 9.2 innings. Sam Wirsing has made two appearances this season and is projected to start for Wright State. Wirsing also started the last contest between these two schools, giving up five runs in four innings to earn the no decision.
 
SCOUTING THE NORSE
Northern Kentucky is 4-7 this season, taking a game from defending champs Mississippi State and most recently taking one of three from The Citadel over the weekend. NKU also picked up a pair of midweek wins last week, beating Butler and Xavier scoring 29 runs in two games.
 
The Norse were picked to finish fifth in the seven-team Horizon League ahead of Oakland and Purdue Fort Wayne after a 17-31 record in 2021. Dizzy Peyton leads the Norse and is in his first season as head coach after spending the last 17 years as an assistant coach for NKU.
 
Manny Vorhees leads the Norse with a .409 average with 18 hits and a .409 OBP, reaching base in all 11 games this season for Northern Kentucky. His 13 RBIs also leads NKU and his three home runs are tied for the team lead with Brennan Gick, who is hitting .318 with six RBIs. Treyvin Moss also has gotten off to a hot start, hitting .314 with 7 doubles and 12 RBIs.
 
Noah Richardson's 0.00 ERA leads NKU in his three appearances. He has nine strikeouts in just five innings and has held opposing hitters to a .118 batting average. Bryson Lonsbury has the team's lone save in his 9.2 innings and Ben Gerl leads the team with 13 strikeouts and 17.2 innings pitched in four starts.
 
MATCHUP HISTORY
This will mark the 22^nd meeting between Dayton and Wright State since 2007 and the first since 2019, with the Raiders winning 19 of the last 21 contests. The Flyers have lost the last 16 games between the two schools and have lost the last 16 away contests in the series.
 
The Flyers are 4-2 against Northern Kentucky and have won the last four games against the Norse. NKU marked Dayton's only home series in the shortened 2020 season, which is the last time these schools met. In that three-game series, Dayton outscored NKU 31-7, winning the most recent game 14-0 behind a home run from Nolan Watson and a 2-for-4 effort from Pujols.