April 14, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - A pair of Flyer student-athletes earned weekly honors from the Atlantic 10 Conference on Monday. Junior Marshall MacDonald was named the A-10 Baseball Player of the Week while Ian Gilley was tabbed as the Men's Golf Rookie of the Week.

MacDonald led the UD baseball team to a 4-1 record last week including two wins in three games against Atlantic 10 Conference rival Saint Joseph's. The native of Red Deer, Alberta, hit .444 with eight runs scored and eight RBI while belting four home runs and one double amongst his eight base hits on the week. After starting with a 2-for-5 day that included a double, two runs scored and a RBI against Bowling Green, MacDonald belted his second home run of the season in a home game against Wittenberg on Wednesday.

The junior had a stellar weekend against SJU with five hits in 10 at bats including a pair of solo home runs in the series opener on Friday night. He also had a momentum-changing two-run blast in the opener of a doubleheader on Saturday that the Flyers won in extra innings, 5-4. MacDonald finished the weekend with two hits in four at bats in the finale, also a UD win 6-4.

Overall this season, MacDonald leads the Flyers with a .500 slugging percentage behind a team-best seven doubles and five home runs. He is also second on the team in both batting average (.314) and on base percentage (.428) while starting all 33 games at first base.

Dayton (18-15, 4-8 A-10) will take part in a pair of local non-conference games this week. The Flyers (18-15) will face Urbana at Athletes in Action Field Monday night (7:30 p.m. ET). UD will then return home to play host to Wright State Wednesday (4:00 p.m. ET). Both games can be followed with Gametracker at www.DaytonFlyers.com.

Gilley tallied rounds of 75-71-71 to place in a tie for fourth overall at the Norm Bullock Collegiate Classic, which concluded last Monday. His 71 in back-to-back rounds on the final day of the tournament was his best score of the season and his fourth-place finish was the best of his UD career.

Overall this season, Gilley is tied for fourth on the team, recording 76.1 strokes per round. The freshman is one of five Flyers taking part in the University of Kentucky Bluegrass Invitational, which wraps up on Monday afternoon. The Flyers were in 14th place following a rain-shortened opening day Sunday.