DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team will play a road series at George Washington over the weekend. The Flyers will open the series on Friday at 3 p.m. at Tucker Field at Barcroft Park in Arlington, Va. The two will return on Saturday at 1 p.m. and finish the series on Sunday at noon.
 
All three games will feature live stats and Friday and Sunday will have an ESPN+ stream.
 
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
The Flyers will enter the weekend with an 11-13 record after splitting four games over the past week. Dayton took one out of three against Rhode Island last weekend in the first A-10 series of the year. The Flyers won the series opener 9-8 on a walkoff single by junior Ben Jones before dropping the next two.
 
Seniors Jay Curtis and Marcos Pujols each homered twice against the Rams. On the mound, juniors Ryan Steinhauer and Mark Manfredi each pitched at least six innings and gave up two or fewer runs.
 
 On Tuesday, UD scored a season-high 16 runs in a win over Northern Kentucky. Pujols homered for the third straight game and junior Jose Martinez homered twice in the win over the Norse.
 
Curtis leads the team with a .319 batting average in 24 starts this season. He is one of just two who have started every game for the Flyers in 2022 joining junior Keagan Calero. Pujols is up to six home runs this season, pacing the Dayton offense. The senior also leads the team with 20 RBIs. Pujols has also reached base in 11 straight games, the second longest streak on the team this year behind Curtis, who reached base in 12 straight earlier this year.
 
Steinhauer is scheduled to make his seventh start of the season on Friday. Dayton is 4-2 in games started by Steinhauer, and the lefty leads the team with 33 strikeouts after his second quality start of the season against the Rams. Manfredi is right behind with 32 K's in his seven appearances in 2022. Graduate student Nick Meyer has been a solid part of the bullpen, having yet to allow a run in six innings this season. Meyer has a 2-1 record this season and has held opposing hitters to a .190 batting average.
 
SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
George Washington is 15-14 in 2022 and swept St. Bonaventure over the weekend in their A-10 opener. The Colonials put up at least 10 runs in all three games against the Bonnies, winning 12-1 on Friday, 10-2 Saturday, and 15-2 in the series finale.
 
The Colonials fell in their midweek game at Towson, losing 9-6 on the road, snapping a five-game winning streak.
 
In the Preseason Atlantic 10 Poll, George Washington was picked to finish seventh in the conference, five spots behind the Flyers. Dayton eliminated the Colonials from postseason contention last season sweeping a four-game series in the last weekend of the regular season.
 
Gregg Ritchie is in his 10^th year as head coach of the Colonials and ranks second in program history with more than 200 wins at George Washington.
 
Steve DiTomaso leads the offense for the Colonials with a .403 batting average in 29 games this season. He is tied for second on the team with four home runs and is third with 21 RBIs. He has a 14-game hitting streak entering the weekend and has reached base in 23 straight games. Cade Fergus is the only other on the team who has started every game for George Washington. Fergus is hitting .333 with five home runs and 22 RBIs to go with a team-leading eight stolen bases.
 
Harrison Cohen leads the pitching staff with 46 strikeouts in 39.2 innings across seven starts. Cohen is 4-3 with a 4.95 ERA in those seven games this season. Trevor Kuncl has been the main force out of the bullpen with a 2.81 ERA and three saves in 15 appearances this season. In 26.2 innings, Kuncl has 28 strikeouts for the Colonials.
 
MATCHUP HISTORY
Friday will mark the 65^th meeting between the two schools with Dayton owning a 21-43 record against the Colonials. The Flyers won the last meeting between the two 14-9 on May 22, 2021. Alex Brickman hit two home runs, while Pujols and Riley Tirotta also homered in the contest.