DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team will head to Saint Louis for the final series of the regular season beginning on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET at Billiken Sports Center in St. Louis. The Flyers will return Friday for a 3 p.m. ET contest against Saint Louis before the regular season finale on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
 
All three games will feature live stats and a stream with an ESPN+ subscription.
 
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
The Flyers will enter the final series of the regular season with a 22-25 and are 9-12 in the Atlantic 10 after taking two of three from Richmond over the weekend. Dayton won the series opener on Friday night at Day Air Ballpark 7-2. Graduate student Kenny Serwa went eight innings and struck out 10 against the Spiders in the contest and the Flyers hit four home runs in the game.
 
Saturday saw Dayton win 13-8 on Senior Day with graduate student Henry Strmecki and seniors Jake Silverstein and Marcos Pujols pick up three hits. Junior Omar Daniels drove in three RBIs for UD. The Flyers fell 7-5 on Sunday despite another two hits from Daniels.
 
Dayton is currently tied for the final spot in the Atlantic 10 Championship that begins next Tuesday with Fordham and Richmond. Saint Joseph's sits in sixth a half-game ahead of the Flyers and George Washington is a game behind the four teams all fighting for the final two spots in the tournament.
 
Strmecki leads the team offensively with a .309 batting average in 40 games this season. Strmecki is tied for the team lead with 11 doubles and ranks second on Dayton with nine home runs in 2022. He is one homer behind Pujols, who leads the Flyers with 10 home runs and 39 RBIs to go with a .292 batting average. The first baseman has 27 career homers, two behind Aaron Reesh and Brent Berigan for the fifth most in a career by a Flyer.
 
Pujols is one of two on the team to play in every game this season, joining senior Jay Curtis. Curtis is hitting .285 in 47 starts this year and ranks second on the team with 36 RBIs and 51 hits this season. He also has nine stolen bases, which ranks second on the team behind junior Jose Martinez who has 13.
 
Serwa will look to continue his success from the past weekend against the Billikens and is slated to make his 12^th start of the season. He is tied for the team lead with four wins and ranks third on the Flyers with 54 strikeouts in 53.2 innings this season.
 
Out of the bullpen, sophomore Eli Majick leads the team with 24 appearances, which is tied for seventh for the most in a season in program history. He is one away from the top five, with Craig Rohren and John Scott each pitching 25 times in 2006 and 1999, respectively. Majick also has four wins this season in 32.2 innings. Graduate student Nick Meyer has been the most dominant force out of the bullpen, with just a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings this season to go with one save.
 
The pitching staff has 416 strikeouts this season, the fourth most in program history. This year's team is 13 strikeouts behind the 2011 team for third place, who finished with 429 strikeouts 11 years ago.
 
SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS
Saint Louis enters the series with a 26-21 record and a 12-8 conference record after dropping two of three at Rhode Island over the weekend. The Billikens fell 9-8 on Friday, 19-13 on Saturday, and won 12-6 on Sunday in the series finale.
 
The Billikens were picked to finish fourth in the conference in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll and currently sit in fourth in the standings entering the final week of the regular season.
 
Darin Hendrickson is the coach of Saint Louis, and he is the winningest coach in program history in his 15^th season, advancing to three NCAA Tournaments in his time at the helm.
 
The offense has struck out 319 times this season, the fewest times in the Atlantic 10. Cam Redding leads Saint Louis with a .347 batting average in 47 games this season. He has 60 hits to lead the team, and his five home runs and 30 RBIs both rank second on the Billikens. Tyler Fogarty has 10 home runs this season to pace SLU, and his 35 RBIs rank behind only Kyle Fitzgerald who has nine home runs and 43 RBIs to lead the offense.
 
On the mound, Logan Schmitt has been the most consistent option in the rotation, with a 3.44 ERA and an 8-1 record in 12 starts this season. His 54 strikeouts lead the team and his 1.22 WHIP is the lowest on Saint Louis. Cameron Pferrer has been the strongest bullpen option, leading the team with eight saves in a team-high 19 appearances. His 1.65 ERA is also the lowest on the Billikens and he is holding hitters to a .218 batting average this season in 27.1 innings.
 
MATCHUP HISTORY
This will mark the first time these two teams have met since 2019, with Dayton holding a 16-36 record against Saint Louis all-time. The Flyers took two of three from the Billikens in that series, with the last game resulting in a 4-2 Dayton win on March 24, 2019 in St. Louis. Marcos Pujols hit his first collegiate home run in the win.