DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team will take on Kentucky in a midweek matchup on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington. The game will be streamed with a paid subscription to SECN+.
 
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
The Flyers made it back to .500 after a 4-1 week and a three-game sweep of Atlantic 10 foe Massachusetts over the weekend. Dayton put up three of the team's best offensive performances against the Minutemen, scoring 38 runs and tallying 44 hits.
 
Dayton won 13-2, 12-3, and 13-9 in the three games against UMass, bringing their conference record to 6-6 which puts them in a tie for seventh with the Minutemen and George Mason. Saturday's win also saw Jayson King earn his 100^th career victory at Dayton.
 
The week also saw junior Jose Martinez earn Atlantic 10 Player of the Week. Martinez went 8-for-16 with two home runs, 10 runs scored, and seven stolen bases in the five games. With his five walks, his on-base percentage for the week was .619. The junior is tied for second on the team with six home runs this season with graduate student Henry Strmecki.
 
Strmecki leads the Flyers with a .299 batting average to go with his six homers and 22 RBIs. Both trail senior Marcos Pujols, who leads Dayton with eight home runs and 26 RBIs. Pujols hit the 25^th home run of his collegiate career on Sunday against UMass, four behind Aaron Reesh and Brent Berigan for fifth in program history.
 
Sophomore Eli Majick leads the Flyers with 17 appearances this year, 16 of which have come out of the Dayton bullpen. Majick's 24 strikeouts are fourth on the team. Redshirt junior Cody Whitten has made eight appearances this season is holding opposing hitters to a .204 batting average, the lowest on the team.
 
The Dayton pitching staff has racked up 329 strikeouts this season, 12 behind the team from 2015 for the 10^th most in program history.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kentucky enters the week at 22-18 this season after dropping two of three to Vanderbilt over the weekend. The Wildcats fell 10-0 on Friday before evening the series with a 3-2 Saturday victory. Vanderbilt took the rubber match on Sunday with a 5-3 win over Kentucky.
 
The Wildcats are 17-9 at home this season and were picked to finish sixth in the seven-team Eastern Division of the SEC. Shortstop Ryan Ritter was selected to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team for Kentucky.
 
Head coach Nick Mingione is in his sixth season at Kentucky and has already led the Wildcats to the NCAA Super Regionals, falling to Louisville in 2017.
 
Chase Estep leads the way with a .325 batting average. Estep has been consistent for the Wildcats with 11 doubles, 11 home runs, 35 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases. He leads the team in all of those categories except for RBIs, where he trails Jacob Plastiak. Plastiak leads Kentucky with 38 RBIs and also has 10 home runs this season.
 
On the mound, Daniel Harper leads the way with 17 appearances this season. In 21 innings this season he owns a 2-1 record and has picked up one save. Tyler Guilfoil leads the team with four saves and 51 strikeouts. In 15 appearances, Guilfoil has a 1.84 ERA and a team-leading 0.99 WHIP, holding opposing hitters to a .182 batting average. Darren Williams has also been strong with a 0.93 ERA in 29 innings on the mound. Williams has a 3-0 record, one save and has allowed just three earned runs this season.
 
MATCHUP HISTORY
This will mark the 13^th meeting between these two schools, with Dayton just 2-10 against Kentucky. The last meeting was a 5-3 win for the Wildcats in eight innings on April 26, 2016. Aaron Huesman led the way for Dayton on that day, going 3-for-3 with a home run and a triple.