DAYTON - The University of Dayton baseball team continues its road swing with a trip to the Music City on Tuesday, April 8 to take on No. 17 Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. ET at Hawkins Field in Nashville.
 
Sweep 'em up!
- Dayton came from behind in two of three games against Massachusetts to secure its first Atlantic 10 road sweep since the 2021 campaign.
- The Flyers' offense continues to roll in league play, scoring 10.67 runs per contest against the Minutemen, as well as averaging 13 hits and 9.3 free passes.
- Junior Dyrenson Wouters hit .636 for the weekend, scoring six runs and swiping a pair of bases. Freshman Ty Mainolfi hit .500 with a pair of home runs and five runs driven in, and redshirt junior Bobby Stang hit .400 with a pair of homers.
- Sophomore southpaw Bennett LaPalm picked up a pair of wins on the weekend, throwing 3.1 innings of scoreless relief action.
 
Flying High In Atlantic 10 Action
- Dayton's offense has come alive in conference play, with four players hitting .390 or better and six players turning in an OPS over 1.000.
- Junior Dyrenson Wouters is leading the charge with a .535 average in A-10 action, while Rylan Lujo (.434), Michael DiMartini (.431) and Ty Mainolfi (.390) have also had fantastic starts to league play.
- Wouters leads UD in OPS in A-10 play with a 1.403 mark, while Lujo is at 1.267, Mainolfi at 1.159, redshirt sophomore Bobby Stang at 1.070, DiMartini at 1.024, and sophomore Adin Zorn has a 1.002 mark.
- Junior J.J. Gatti has pitched at a high level in A-10 action, posting a 2-1 record with a 3.38 ERA. The junior has thrown 12.1 consecutive scoreless innings.
 
Last Time vs. Vandy
- The last time the #FlyBoys and #VandyBoys faced off was a historic night for Dayton baseball, as the Flyers came back from a 5-1 deficit thanks to a seven-run eighth inning to top the No. 6-ranked Commodores 8-5.
- Alejandro Cazorla had a night to remember, going 3-for-3 with a home run and a two-run double. Mason Dobie also had a two-run double in the win, and the Flyers finished the game with eight hits.
- Relief pitcher Nick Wissman struck out four over the final 2.1 innings to pick up his first win of the season. The Dayton native went on to post 11 wins and win Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year honors, ultimately getting drafted by the San Diego Padres in the eighth round.
- The win was the first and only ranked win of the Jayson King era of Dayton baseball, and the first victory over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 23 Charlotte in 2007. It also marked the first win over a Top 10 opponent since 1996 when the Flyers defeated LSU.
 
In the Rankings
- Dayton's spectacular offensive season is reflected in the NCAA rankings, with the Flyers ranking in the top 25 in four different categories. The #FlyBoys currently sit third in the NCAA in total hits with 370 this season.
- A number of individuals have impressive numbers in the national rankings as well, as sophomore transfer Michael DiMartini leads the nation in hits with 62. Sophomore Bennett LaPalm ranks fourth in wins, freshman Rylan Lujo is fifth in hits, and junior transfer Dyrenson Wouters ranks fifth in average. Full national and Atlantic 10 rankings included on Page 3.
 
Zorn's big Finish
- Dayton had to mount a comeback to defeat Massachusetts for the sweep on Sunday, scoring single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to overtake the Minutemen.
- Sophomore Adin Zorn played a major hand in the win happening, driving in the game-tying run in the top of the eighth inning with a two-out RBI single.
- With the game on the line an inning later, UMass had the tying run in scoring position and one out when they got a single to left. Zorn came up firing and gunned down the potential tying run at the plate and ultimately secure the road sweep for the Flyers.
 
Offensive Explosion
- Dayton and Davidson had a series for the ages this weekend, with the two teams combining for 95 runs on 95 hits and 20 home runs.
- The Flyers' 52 runs scored in the series is the most for a UD offense in a three-game series since at least the 2005 season.
- Dayton had 54 hits, 10 home runs and 9 doubles in the series, led by junior shortstop Dyrenson Wouters, who hit .714 (10-of-14) with three doubles, a home run, eight runs scored and six RBI.
 
Gatti Got 'em
- Junior starter J.J. Gatti's surrendered just two hits, one of which was an infield single on a swinging bunt, and struck out seven and only walked one in seven shutout innings against a Davidson team averaging a run per inning in 2025.
 
D-Mart Dominates
- Sophomore Michael DiMartini is the NCAA Division I leader in total hits with 56 and ranks 13th in batting average (.441) this season. He also ranks fifth in stolen bases (24) and ninth in runs scored (43) nationally, and leads the Atlantic 10 in all those categories.
- D-Mart is also first in the league in triples (5), second in home runs (9), and fourth in on-base percentage (.510).
 
Freshman Phenom
- Freshman Rylan Lujo has continued to live up to lofty preseason expectations, hitting .427 with a 1.207 OPS, 13 doubles and seven home runs.
- The Coconut Creek, Fla. native is first nationally among freshmen in doubles, second in average and seventh in home runs.
 
Dyrenson Delivers
- Junior Dyrenson Wouters has taken his offensive performance to a new level, hitting .690 in the last eight games, bringing his season average to .452.
- Dayton has gone 6-2 in that time frame, including a 5-1 run through the Atlantic 10. Wouters has reached base at a .737 clip, getting 20 hits in 29 at-bats, hitting a home run, three doubles, scoring 15 runs and driving in 10 more.
- The Aruba native leads the team in average (.452), is second on the team in doubles (10), and third in runs scored (31) and RBI (24).
 
Familiar Faces
- Tuesday's showdown at Vanderbilt will have a few familiar faces in the opposing dugout, as former bench boss Jayson King is now an assistant coach for the Commodores, as well as a pair of former FlyBoys in Connor Fennell and David Mendez.
- King had a record of 165-175 during his seven year run as UD's head coach, seeing four players taken in the MLB Draft.
- Mendez was the 2024 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year after putting together a freshman campaign with a .342/.505/.442 slash line, hitting six home runs and nine doubles, scoring 47 runs, driving in 49 more and swiping 24 stolen bases.
- Fennell became Dayton's ace over the 2024 season, finishing the campaign with a 4-4 record and 4.74 ERA, but most impressively striking out a team-high 66 while walking only 13.
 
Players of the Week
- Sophomore Michael DiMartini earned Co-Player of the Week and freshman Rylan Lujo was named Rookie of the Week on March 4.
- Lujo earned his second Rookie of the Week honor on March 24.
- Junior starter J.J. Gatti was named Pitcher of the Week while Lujo won his third Rookie of the Week on March 31.
 
Day Air Game Tickets On Sale Now
- The Dayton baseball team and the Dayton Dragons have announced that tickets for the Flyers' 2025 Day Air Ballpark game against Wright State on April 29 are now on sale.
 
- Tickets are $10.00 for all spectators. Students from both the University of Dayton and Wright State will be admitted free of charge.
 
Scouting Vanderbilt
- Vanderbilt has climbed back to No. 17 in the D1Baseball.com rankings and are coming off a road sweep of Florida. The VandyBoys have a record of 23-8 on the season and are 6-5 in the SEC.
- Vandy is currently hitting .271 on the campaign as a team, led by Riley Nelson and Jacob Humphrey, who averages of .346 and .337, respectively.
- The pitching has a team ERA of 3.43 on the season, with Cody Bowker (2-1, 3.86 ERA, 50 SO) and JD Thompson (2-2, 4.10 ERA, 50 SO) leading the way.
 
Next Up
- The Flyers return to Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium for a three-game A-10 series against George Washington April 11-13.