DAYTON - The University of Dayton softball team is preparing for its ninth-consecutive and 13th overall appearance in the Atlantic 10 Championship this week. The fifth-seeded Flyers will take on the fourth-seeded Billikens of Saint Louis in the opening game of the tournament on Wednesday, May 11. First pitch between UD and SLU is slated for 12 p.m. at George Mason Softball Complex.

Please CLICK HERE to reach the league's Championship Central page for links to game coverage, recaps, stats, photos and highlights throughout the tournament.

The winner of the UD-SLU game will face regular-season champion, No. 1 seed and defending tournament champion George Washington (33-13, 21-3 A-10) Thursday at 12 p.m. George Washington and No. 2 seed Fordham (27-19, 15-7 A-10) earned first-round byes in the six-team, double-elimination tournament.
 
Wednesday's second opening-round game matches No. 3 Saint Joseph's (22-21, 14-8 A-10) and No. 6 Massachusetts (19-30, 12-12 A-10), with the winner to face Fordham Thursday at 2:30 p.m. Day one's schedule includes an elimination game to be played Wednesday at 5 p.m. between the losers of UD-SLU and SJU-UMass.

SCOUTING SAINT LOUIS
Saint Louis (21-27, 13-10 A-10) earned the tournament's four seed after posting a .565 winning percentage in regular-season conference games this year. The Billikens hosted the Flyers April 15-16 and UD came away with a 2-1 series win over SLU. Saint Louis dropped five of its last six conference games including being swept by tournament host George Mason at home May 7-8. Gabbie Kowalik leads the Billikens' offense with a .371 average (6th A-10), 56 hits (3rd A-10), 30 RBI (t-5th A-10) and 19 stolen bases (t-4th A-10). In the circle for Saint Louis, Chloe Wendling (15-15) carries the team's low ERA of 2.90 (6th A-10), has worked 20 complete games and tallied 120 strikeouts (2nd A-10) over 188.1 innings of work (1st A-10).

ABOUT DAYTON
Dayton (19-22, 12-10 A-10) was seeded fifth for the 2022 A-10 Tournament with its .545 winning percentage in league contests. The Flyers won five of its conference series this season and also split two games at Fordham. UD closed out its regular season slate in the Bronx, taking game one, 7-6, and falling in the nightcap, 6-3. Freshman Emma Schutter paces the Dayton offense with a league-leading .419 average, 57 hits (2nd A-10), 23 runs scored and 21 stolen bases (t-2nd A-10) while senior Alyssa Cacini (.304) has batted in a team-best 25 runs, knocked out six home runs (t-6th A-10) and drawn 14 walks. Cacini and Schutter are the only two Flyers that have started in all 41 games this season for Dayton. Senior Kelsey Gumm (9-7) leads the Dayton pitching corps with a conference-low 2.05 ERA and .185 opposing batting average to go with eight shutouts (4-4), seven complete games and 103 strikeouts (5th A-10) over 105.2 innings pitched.

SERIES STUFF
Saint Louis leads, 25-19
First Meeting: 4/7/89 - Saint Louis 3, Dayton 0 (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Last Meeting: 4/16/22 - Dayton 4, Saint Louis 3 (St. Louis, Mo.)

DAYTON IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Dayton first appeared in the Atlantic 10 Championship in 1998 and the Flyers are making the program's ninth-consecutive and 13th overall appearance in the post-season tournament in 2022. UD's first A-10 tourney win  was a 2-0 victory over former member Temple on May 13, 2000 in Amherst, Massachusetts. The Flyers are 11-24 all-time in the A-10 Championship and have finished as tournament runners-up twice: 2018, 2021.

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