DAYTON - The University of Dayton baseball team starts a nine-game road trip this weekend against Eastern Illinois, taking on the Panthers in a three-game series at Coaches Stadium at Monier Field beginning Friday, March 15 at 4 p.m. EDT.

MADE FOR MARCH
- While the calendar turns to March and eyes focus on postseason basketball, the FlyBoys have started to heat up on the diamond.
- Dayton has won seven of 10 games this month, including series wins over High Point and South Dakota State. The Flyers have turned in a .312/.495/.473 slash line this month, slugging 12 home runs, 21 doubles and two triples. The pitching ERA sits at 6.21 in March, striking out 81 batters as a staff and walking just 28.
 
DAZZLING DEBUTS
- The fantastic debut seasons for freshmen David Mendez and Ryan MacDougall continued to blossom this week, as the duo turned in yet another top-tier performance against Bowling Green on Wednesday.
- MacDougall turned in the best game of his young career against Bowling Green on Wednesday, slugging two home runs, including a first-inning grand slam, and finishing with a three-hit game. The Taunton, Mass. native leads the Flyers in multi-RBI games this season and became the third FlyBoy to hit a grand slam this season (Castillo and Yamin).
- Mendez has reached base in 12 consecutive games, including a three-hit performance against the Falcons. The Aldie, Va. native reached base a total of four times thanks to a walk, and has now pushed his team-leading batting average to .463 on the campaign.

STRONG WEEK FOR THE FLYBOYS
- UD put together a strong week of work last week, winning a midweek against in-state foe Toledo and turning around to win a four-game series with South Dakota State. After dropping the series opener against the Jackrabbits, 8-5, the Flyers bounced back in a big way, outscoring the potent SDSU lineup 38-14 the rest of the series.

ROAD WARRIORS
- The FlyBoys nine-game road swing over the next 11 days has them playing in three different states (Illinois, Indiana and Ohio) before returning home to open Atlantic 10 play aganist Fordham.
- Dayton is 3-5 away from Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium this season, with three of those losses coming at the hands of then-No. 1 Wake Forest.
- Freshman David Mendez has been just as dangerous away from the friendly confines of Woerner Field, hitting .563 in eight games, reaching base at a .667 clip and slugging .813. Senior shortstop Carlos Castillo has also played well away from the Gem City, hitting .478 in five games with three doubles, a home run and eight RBI.

ISN'T IT GRAND?
- Freshman Ryan MacDougall hit the Flyers' third grand slam of the season on Wednesday, putting the exclamation point on a six-run first inning against Bowling Green.
- The Flyers got TWO grand slams in the same game against High Point earlier in the season, one from senior Carlos Castillo and another from sophomore Eddie Yamin IV. 
- It marked the first time since at least 2005 that the Flyers hit two grand slams in the same game. It was the first grand slam of Castillo's career, while Yamin hit one as a freshman in 2023 against St. Bonaventure on May 11.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
- Eastern Illinois comes into the weekend with a 3-11 record on the season, having most recently taken down Bellarmine, 4-3 in its home opener. The Panthers have series losses at Florida A&M, North Carolina A&T and Arkansas State so far this season. 
- EIU is hitting .251 as a team through the first 14 games, led by a pair of Panthers hitting north of .370. Cole Gober has a .377 average and .999 OPS, hitting two home runs and four doubles on the season. Lucas Loos is hitting .373 and has a team-high 1.115 OPS thanks to three homers and four doubles. As a whole, Eastern Illinois is 12-for-14 in stolen bases this season.
- On the mound, EIU has a team ERA of 7.70 while allowing opponents to hit .295 on the campaign. Casey Perrenoud has made four starts on the season and has a 10.12 ERA in 10.2 inning of work, while Tyler Conklin has made three starts and has a 10.20 ERA in 15 innings. 

UP NEXT
- Dayton's road swing continues with a midweek matchup at Eastern Kentucky University on Wednesday, March 20 at 6 p.m.