DAYTON - The University of Dayton softball team will square off against No. 3/3 Tennessee Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in game two of the Knoxville Regional. The Flyers will be making the program's first-ever appearance in national post-season play after winning the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship May 11 and securing the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

For all information about and links for this weekend's games: KNOXVILLE REGIONAL CENTRAL

ABOUT DAYTON
After claiming the program's second Atlantic 10 regular season title, Dayton (33-19) won three straight at the A-10 Championship to capture the Flyers' first league tournament crown and automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Flyers have posted their second-consecutive and fifth overall 30-win season in 2024 and Dayton has won four straight and 15 of its last 17 games.

A-10 Championship Most Outstanding Player junior Chloe Wong paces the team with a career-high .360 average, one of five Flyers who are hitting above .300, to go with a team-high-tying 11 doubles. Junior Maddie Kapsimalis (.350) has collected 43 RBI and drawn 31 walks while junior Emma Schutter (.313) leads the team with 57 hits and 37 runs scored.

In the circle, sophomore Izzy Kemp (11-6) carries the team's low ERA of 1.77 and has tallied 133 strikeouts over 110.2 innings pitched on the season. Junior Haven Dwyer (14-5) finished the A-10 slate ranked first in the league in conference games with a 1.41 ERA and 10 wins.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE
No. 3/3 Tennessee (40-10) enters the national tournament having won back-to-back SEC regular season titles for the first time in program history and is making the program's 21st overall and 20th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Eight Lady Vols and head coach Karen Weekly earned SEC postseason awards last week on the heels of another dominating run through conference play. Weekly was named SEC Coach of the Year for the second year in a row and for the fourth time during her tenure on Rocky Top. In the circle, sophomore Karlyn Pickens was tabbed as the league's Pitcher of the Year – joining Monica Abbott as the only Lady Vols to bring home the honor.

RPI RANKING
In the NCAA's Rating Percentage Index (RPI) through games on May 11, Dayton came in at 125 according to NCAA.com.
Miami (Ohio) - 35
Tennessee - 8
Virginia - 30

KNOXVILLE REGIONAL MATCHUPS
Friday, May 17
Game 1: Miami (Ohio) vs. Virginia – 12 p.m. ET
Game 2: Dayton vs. Tennessee – 2:30 p.m. ET

Friday's two winners will play in Game 3 on Saturday at 1 p.m. The losers from Friday's games will play in Game 4 at 3:30 p.m., and the loser from Game 3 will face the winner from Game 4 at 6 p.m. to conclude play on Saturday. Times for Game 6 and the if necessary Game 7 on Sunday are still to be determined.

The winner of the Knoxville Regional will advance to a Super Regional to face the winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional. Teams in the Tuscaloosa regional are: Alabama, Clemson, Southeastern Louisiana and USC Upstate.

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