Dayton Flyers

A-10 Baseball Championship Central (Atlantic10.com) | Notes (PDF)

WEEK 15 – Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship
Location: Bronx, N.Y.
Venue: Houlihan Park (Fordham University)
Live Coverage: Atlantic10.com / @DaytonBaseball
Video Streaming: All games of the A-10 Baseball Championship will be video streamed via Atlantic10.com, expect Saturday’s 12 p.m. ET Championship game.
TV: CBS Sports Network (Saturday 12 p.m. ET)

Dayton's Pitching Rotation
• Game 1: RHP Mike Hauschild (7-2, 4.37 ERA)
• Game 2: RHP Tim Bury (7-2, 3.01 ERA)
• Games 3-  : TBD

DAYTON AT A GLANCE
    Record: 28-28, 17-7 t-1st Atlantic 10
    Coach: Tony Vittorio (370-354, 13th season)
• The Flyers earned a share of the A-10 regular season title by winning its last six conference games with sweeps against UMass and La Salle.
• Dayton's conference-leading offense (.295 team batting average) is led by a six players hitting .300.
• Nationally, senior centerfielder Bobby Glover ranks 20th in runs scored (58), senior outfielder C.J. Gillman ranks 10th in RBI (61) and senior shortstop Brian Blasik ranks eighth in stolen bases (34). All three seniors have started every game for UD this season. 
• As a team, UD leads the nation in stolen bases (156) and ranks second stolen bases per game (2.79). Blasik currently is tied with Dayton’s career record of 63 stolen bases, also held by Michael Massa (2004-07).
• Dayton leads the A-10 in batting average (.295), runs scored (344), hits (589), runs batted in (312), stolen bases (156) and total bases (804).
• Senior right-handed pitchers Burny Mitchem and Mike Hauschild both rank in the top three in career strikeouts at Dayton. Mitchem (310) ranks first and Hauschild (256) is tied for second with Cameron Hobson, an 11th-round MLB Draft pick in 2011.
• Head Coach Tony Vittorio won his 350th game at Dayton on March 24 against Saint Bonaventure. Vittorio is 370-354 in his 13th season at UD and 593-552 in his 20th season overall.

ATLANTIC 10 REGULAR SEASON CO-CHAMPIONS
• Dayton captured a share of the 2012 Atlantic 10 regular season title by finishing conference play with six consecutive wins.
• It is Dayton’s second regular season conference title in four seasons.
• In 2009, UD won the program’s first-ever conference title with a program-record 38 wins and a 21-6 A-10 record. That season, the Flyers clinched the title after a 13-game conference winning streak.
• Entering the final weekend of the 2012 regular season, Dayton needed to sweep La Salle on the road in order to share the title with Saint Louis, which had a conference bye in the last week. The Flyers swept La Salle after two one-run games and a complete-game effort from RHP Parker Schrage in the series finale. 

DAYTON IN THE ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONSHIP
• 2012 is UD’s seventh appearance in the A-10 Baseball Championship and the second time receiving a first-round bye.
• Dayton has a 6-12 overall record in the Atlantic 10 Championship though six appearances.
• The last time Dayton was a No. 2 seed was in four-team field in 2001.
• All A-10 Championship appearances have been under Head Coach Tony Vittorio.
• In 2011 and 2005, the Flyers played a program-high four games in the double-elimination tournament.
• This season will be the second time UD has played in the Bronx for the A-10 Championship. In 2006 Dayton played three games as No. 3 seed.

National Weather Service Forecast – Bronx, N.Y.
Thursday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1 p.m. ET. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 77 degrees. East wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.
Thursday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66 degrees. South wind between 5 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.
Friday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79 degrees. South wind between 7 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.
Friday Night: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68 degrees. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 84 degrees.

NATIONAL STOLEN BASES LEADERS
• Dayton ended the regular season as the nation’s leader in stolen bases, totaling a program-record 156 and averaging 2.79 per game.
• The Flyers were the first Division I team to reach 100 stolen bases this season, doing so against Fordham on April 13.
• UD  has only been caught stealing 31 times with an 83.4 percent success rate.
• Four Flyers have more than 10 stolen bases, led by Brian Blasik’s program-record 34. Bobby Glover has the second-most steals in a single-season at UD with 23. C.J. Gillman (19) and Robby Sunderman (11) round out the group of four with double-digit steals.
• UD stole a season-high 11 bases against Oakland (3/16/12) and nine against Northern Illinois (3/11/12).
• Dayton’s opponents have 60 stolen bases on 93 attempts (64.5 percent).
• UD began the season with at least one stolen base in 20 consecutive games.
• Last season UD recorded over 100 steals for the first time in program history (121), ranking seventh in the nation.
• The NCAA record for steals in a season is 333 set by Wichita State in 1982 (87 games). The steals per-game record is 5.47 set by Howard in 1976 (208 in 38 games).

ALL-CONFERENCE RUNDOWN
• Dayton’s starting outfield is made up of All-Conference players – centerfielder Bobby Glover (first team), left fielder Zach Stewart (second team) and right fielder C.J. Gillman (second team).
• Shortstop Brian Blasik leads the A-10 in total hits (82) and stolen bases (34) to become the first Flyer in program history to be named A-10 First Team All-Conference three consecutive seasons.
• Senior right-handed pitcher Tim Bury led the A-10 in wins during conference play (6) and was named Second Team All-Conference.
• A program-record three student-athletes were named A-10 Academic All-Conference – Gillman, junior pitcher Bryce Lahrman and sophomore third baseman Robby Sunderman. It is the second consecutive season Lahrman has been on the Academic All-Conference team.
• Rhode Island outfielder Jeff Roy was named Player of the Year, UMass starting pitcher Joe Popielarczyk named Pitcher of the Year and Richmond pitcher Zak Sterling name Rookie of the Year. Saint Louis coach Darin Hendrickson was named Coach of the Year for guiding SLU to 40 wins and share of the A-10 regular season title.

BURY HOT STREAK
• Right-handed pitcher Tim Bury won a string of six consecutive starts from April 7 to May 11 to solidify his standing as one of the A-10’s best pitchers this season.
• In each of those six starts Bury was the winning pitcher and lasted at least eight full innings.
• Three of the six starts were complete-game efforts, including a complete-game shutout at Richmond on April 28, which earned him A-10 Pitcher of the Week honors.
• The Overland Park, Kan., native allowed just seven runs during six starts with a 1.21 earned run average.
• Bury lead the A-10 with six wins during conference play. 

AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
• Dayton played two nationally ranked opponents this season with a 1-3 record.
• Dayton won the first of three games against then No. 30 Saint Louis (Collegiate Baseball), 13-12.
• UD played top-ranked Kentucky (Collegiate Baseball) in a mid-week road game on April 4, losing 19-6 despite taking an early 5-1 lead in the second inning.

WALK OFF VICTORIES
• Dayton has five walk-off victories at Time Warner Cable Stadium this season. Three of the five walk-off hits have come with two outs.
• March 18: Dayton 8, Canisius 7 (10 innings). C.J. Gillman led off the bottom of the 10th with a double and A.J. Ryan drove in Gillman run on an infield single to cap off a four-run comeback win over Canisius (down 6-2 in seventh inning).
• March 24: Dayton 6, St. Bonaventure 3 (9 innings). Three walks loaded the bases for a two-out walk-off grand slam from Mel Skochdopole to give Dayton a 6-3 conference-opening win against St. Bonaventure. It was Skochdopole’s first and only homerun of the regular season. 
• March 30: Dayton 13, Saint Louis 12 (9 innings). With one out and the bases loaded, Josh Jeffery fouled out into a sacrifice fly down the left field line which allowed the runner at third base (Spencer Rohr) to tag and score the game-winning run. The walk-off sacrifice fly capped off a nine-run comeback against No. 30 Saint Louis to open the three-game series (down 10-1 in the fourth inning).  
• May 10: Dayton 8, UMass 7 (9 innings). Bobby Glover led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and advanced to third on a sac bunt and ground out. C.J. Gillman drove in Glover on a walk-off RBI single to right field with two outs.
• May 12: Dayton 2, UMass 1 (10 innings). A pinch-hitting Ian Hundley drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th to complete the sweep of UMass in the last home game of the season. Hundley hit a bases-loaded, two out single which scored Zach Stewart.

LATE-INNING SURGE
• Dayton is outscoring opponents 66-43 in the eighth and ninth innings.
• When tied or trailing after eight innings, Dayton has nine victories (9-28).
• The Flyers have never given up a lead after the eighth inning (18-0), and are 18-1 when leading after six innings.

LINEUP CONSISTENCIES
• Senior shortstop Brian Blasik and senior centerfielder Bobby Glover have started all 56 games of the season in their respective positions.
• Senior right fielder C.J. Gillman has started in 115 consecutive games in five different positions.
• Gillman, the league-leader in RBI, has hit cleanup in the batting order during 47 games.
• Two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week selection A.J. Ryan has batted fifth in the order 45 times.

GLOVER’S 21-GAME HITTING STREAK
• Senior centerfielder Bobby Glover started the season on a 21-game hitting streak, which still remains the longest of any player in the A-10 this season. 
• It was also the longest hitting streak of any Flyer since 2006, when Michael Massa had a hit in 20 consecutive games (3/31/06 – 4/30/06).
• During his 21-game hitting streak Glover recorded a .351 batting average, .426 on-base percentage, five homeruns, eight doubles, three triples and 19 RBI.
• Glover also began the season by reaching base in the first 31 games.

PITCHING ACE: HAUSCHILD
• Senior Mike Hauschild has been the Friday starter for the Flyers all season with a team-high 79 strikeouts and seven wins through 14 starts.
• Dayton is 10-4 in games which Hauschild starts, including a 7-1 record when starting conference games.
• The Beavercreek, Ohio native is averaging 6 1/3 innings per appearances.
• Hauschild has pitched two complete-games. In his last complete-game, he struck out eight in nine innings while guiding Dayton to an 11-5 win over Oakland (3/16).

STEWART LEADS DURING CONFERENCE PLAY
• Senior Zach Stewart leads Dayton with a .378 batting average during conference play.
• Stewart has 31 hits and seven doubles as the starting left fielder in 21 of UD’s 24 conference games.
• He is also the only position starter without an error during conference play.

A.J. RYAN: TWO-TIME A-10 ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
• All-Rookie selection and freshman first baseman A.J. Ryan was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week on Feb. 27 and April 9.
• Ryan hit .556 with five RBI to earn his first citation on Feb. 27.
• The La Grange Park, Ill., native batted .348, including a double in four consecutive games, to earn his second Rookie of the Week honor.
• Ryan was the 13th Flyer to be named an A-10 Rookie of the Week. A total of five active UD players have been named A-10 Rookie of the Week during their careers (Mel Skochdopole [4/4/11], Bryce Lahrman [3/1/10], Joe Gayda [5/3/10] and Burny Mitchem [4/28/08]).

MITCHEM TOPS CAREER STRIKEOUT LIST
• Senior right-handed pitcher Burny Mitchem is Dayton’s career strikeout leader and ranks in the top five among active NCAA Division I players in career strikeouts. The Farmington, Mich., native currently has 310 career strikeouts.
• Mitchem became Dayton’s career strikeout leader on March 3 with 14 strikeouts in six innings at Tennessee Tech. Mitchem held TTU scoreless for all six innings of his relief appearance to allow the Flyers to rally and win, 13-9, in 11 innings.
• With four strikeouts against UMass on May 10, Mitchem became the first pitcher to ever reach 300 career strikeouts at Dayton.

UD BECOMES FIRST A-10 TEAM TO SWEEP CHARLOTTE, IN CHARLOTTE
• Dayton swept a three-game series at Charlotte from April 6 through 8. It was the first time an A-10 team had swept a three-game series on the 49ers’ home field (Hayes Stadium) since joining the league in 2005-06.
• The Flyers lead the all-time series with the 49ers, 10-5, including a 4-5 mark at Hayes Stadium. The last three conference series between Dayton and Charlotte have been sweeps – two by Dayton and one by Charlotte.

SCORING TRENDS
Dayton has…
• outscored opponents 35-20 in the eighth inning.
• a 18-1 record when leading after six innings.
• a 9-0 record when scoring 10 or more runs.
• a 11-0 record when holding opponents to two runs or fewer.

CATCHER BY COMMITTEE
• Catchers Josh Jeffery and Kuris Duggan have split time behind the plate this season.
• Duggan, a juco transfer from South Suburban (Ill.) College, has started 27 games. UD holds an 15-12 record in those games. 
• Jeffery, a senior, has started 29 games. UD holds a 13-16 record in those games.
• Head coach Tony Vittorio has not opted to use multiple catchers consistently since the 2006 season when Josh Burt started 33 games and William Benoit started 24.

LEADOFF SPOT
• Three different Flyers have occupied the leadoff spot in the batting order – Brian Blasik, Ian Hundley and Bobby Glover.
• Blasik started 10 of the first 11 games in the leadoff spot, Hundley started the next 20 games and Glover has owned the spot since April 6 at Charlotte.

COUGHLIN’S CLUTCH PINCH HITTING
• Senior Mike Coughlin is 5-for-8 (.625) in pinch hitting situations this season. During conference play, Coughlin is 4-for-5 as a pinch hitter.
• Coughlin was a preseason second team all-conference selection by College Sports Madness this season. Last season the Bellefontaine, Ohio native started in 54 games with a .311 batting average.

VITTORIO WINS 350TH GAME AT DAYTON
• Head Coach Tony Vittorio won his 350th game at Dayton after the Flyers defeated Saint Bonaventure, 6-3, on March 24.

IN THE MAJORS
• Two formers Flyers were on opening day rosters at the major league level – Craig Stammen (Nationals) and Jerry Blevins (Athletics).
LHP Jerry Blevins ‘04 – Oakland Athletics
0-0, 2.33 ERA, 16 GP, 19.1 IP, 17 K, 9 BB
• Made the A’s opening day active roster for the third consecutive season.
• Has 16 middle relief appearances with 17 strikeouts.
• Drafted in the 17th round by the Cubs in 2004. Made major league debut on Sept. 16, 2007 with the A’s. In his six season at the major-league level.

RHP Craig Stammen ‘05 – Washington Nationals
3-0, 1.44 ERA, 17 GP, 25.0 IP, 27 K, 5 BB
• In 17 appearances and 25 innings pitched, has a 3-0 record and 1.44 ERA with 27 strikeouts.
• His first two wins came on consecutive days against the Reds (4/12-13). In both appearances, the Nationals won in extra-innings after Stammen struck out the side in one inning of work.
• In his third win of the season, struck out three in two shutout innings against the Padres (5/14).
• Drafted in the 12th round by the Nationals in 2005. Made major league debut on May 21, 2009. Left Dayton as a junior with what was then UD’s career strikeout record (185). Versailles (OH) High School graduate.

DAYTON’S PRESEASON OUTLOOK
• The Flyers were picked to finish third in the A-10 in 2012.
• Last season UD went 32-27 and 15-9 in A-10 play, finishing third.
• UD returns five position players and three-of-four pitchers who started a conference game in 2011.
• The Flyers won the 2009 A-10 regular season title and have had 30-win seasons in five of the last seven years.

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