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Redshirt freshman Spencer Rohr has scored 11 times on 15 pinch-run situations. |
Game 43: Friday, 3 p.m. ET
Game 44: Saturday, 2 p.m. ET
Game 45: Sunday, 12 p.m. ET
Location: Richmond, Va.
Venue: Pitt Field
Live Coverage: RichmondSpiders.com
Series Preview
• Two of the top offenses in the Atlantic 10 collide for a three-game series this weekend at Pitt Field in Richmond, Va. Dayton leads the conference in batting average (.306), runs scored (290), stolen bases (121) and hits (466), while Richmond leads in homeruns (49), slugging percentage (.480), on-base percentage (.389) and ranks second in batting average (.295).
• Going into the weekend, Dayton is tied for second place in the league standings with UMass at 8-4. Richmond is in sixth place, but just one game back from the Flyers at 7-5.
• 13 of Dayton’s 19 wins have come when either Mike Hauschild or Tim Bury start on the mound. Hauschild, who will start on Friday, leads the team with 60 strikeouts and is averaging seven innings per start. Bury is 3-0 in his last three starts with a 2.08 ERA in those games.
Dayton at a Glance
Record: 19-23, 8-4 Atlantic 10
Coach: Tony Vittorio (361-349, 13th season)
Team B.A. / ERA: .306 / 5.56
• The Flyers lead the NCAA in stolen bases (121), rank fifth in total hits (466) and lead the A-10 in team batting average (.306).
• Dayton's offense is led by seniors C.J. Gillman, Bobby Glover and Brian Blasik, whom have started in all of UD’s 42 games this season.
• Glover has a team-best .352 batting average and paces the conference with 48 runs scored, 62 hits and 102 total bases.
• Blasik broke his own UD single-season stolen bases record with one on Tuesday at Wright State. The everyday shortstop has 24 on the season and recorded 23 in 2011. Blasik also ranks eighth in the NCAA with 18 doubles.
• Gillman, who has started in 101 consecutive games, leads the A-10 with 48 RBI.
• Freshman first baseman A.J. Ryan was named the A-10 Player of the Week by College Sports Madness on Tuesday. Ryan totaled 10 hits, two doubles and four RBI last week. On Sunday Ryan went a career-high 4-for-4 with two runs scored. The La Grange Park, Ill., native is a two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week this season. Among A-10 stat leaders, Ryan ranks fourth runs batted in (36), fourth in hits (53) and seventh in batting average (.342).
• Senior right-handed pitchers Burny Mitchem and Hauschild both rank in the top three in career strikeouts at Dayton. Mitchem (288) ranks first and Hauschild (237) ranks third. Cameron Hobson, an 11th-round MLB Draft pick in 2011, ranks second with 256.
• Head Coach Tony Vittorio won his 350th game at Dayton on March 24 against Saint Bonaventure. Vittorio is 361-349 in his 13th season at UD and 584-547 in his 20th season overall.
• Dayton is 9-12 on the road this season.
• In the classroom, the University of Dayton concludes class on Friday and will hold finals next week to conclude the Spring semester.
LAST TIME OUT
• Dayton lost a one-run decision to Wright State on Tuesday, 7-6. The Raiders, who are receving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25, scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Flyers.
• Last weekend, UD totaled 41 hits while winning two-of-three in a non-conference series at Evansville. Senior Tim Bury pitched 8 1/3 innings to earn his third win in as many starts on Saturday, with Burny Mitchem punching the last two outs of the game for his third save. Freshman Denton Sagerman threw four hit-less innings of relief on Sunday to stave off Evansville until UD scored four runs in the ninth. Sunday’s 9-5 victory was Sagerman’s first career winning decision.
• With an 8-4 league record, Dayton is tied for second in the A-10 with UMass. The Flyers won two-of-three against Fordham at home in the most-recent A-10 series.
Richmond at a Glance
Record: 20-17, 7-5 Atlantic 10
Coach: Mark McQueen (115-128-4, 5th season)
Team BA / ERA: .295 / 5.33
• Richmond’s potent offense features 49 homeruns – good for second-best in the NCAA. Chris Cowell’s 15 homeruns (ranked seventh in the nation) leads a group of four Spiders with seven or more homeruns on the season.
• Phil Ruzbarsky leads the team with a .373 batting average as Jacob Mayers has a team-best 42 runs batted in.
• The Spiders have won their last two conference series against George Washington and at Temple, both two games to one.
• On the mound, the Jacob Mayers and Zak Sterling lead the Spiders. Mayers, UR’s Friday starter, has posted a 6-2 record with a team-high 74 strikeouts. Freshman lefty Sterling has also been solid for Richmond, notching a 5-1 record while leading the team with a 3.56 ERA.•
• Mark McQueen is 115-128-4 in his fifth season as head coach at Richmond. McQueen won his 100th game at Richmond this season against Saint Peter’s on March 3.
National Weather Service Forecast – Richmond, Va.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 68 degrees. Northwest wind between 10 and 13 mph.
Saturday: A chance of showers, mainly after 8 a.m. Cloudy, with a high near 66 degrees. East wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 64 degrees.
