April 11, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
The Flyers look to return back to their original form in a key matchup against the George Washington Colonials Saturday in a twilight twinbill. Despite being on a three-game losing streak, the Flyers have shown the ability to hit the ball in clutch situations as well as ice batters when the game is on the line. Dayton will face a GW team that has hit a few bumps in the road this season coming into the series with a 7-18 record. The Colonials have made an impact when it counts as the two teams share nearly identical conference records in what should be a pivotal matchup for the race to the Atlantic 10 Championship.
SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
GW touts a thunderous veteran lineup led by senior outfielder Chrysanthi Halkiotis. She is batting .398 in 25 games and has hit the long ball on more than one occasion with three this season. She is complemented on defense by sophomore pitcher Amanda Gabriel. In 18 appearances, Gabriel has racked up six wins and is third in the Atlantic 10 striking out 118 batters this season. GW comes off of a pair of shutout losses to James Madison and have only mustered five runs in the last five games.
MATTHEWS NAMED A-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK ON MARCH 3
Laura Matthews has really come alive in her senior year. At the EKU Invitational, Matthews racked up a .625 average going 5-of-8 and smacking two doubles and driving in three. For her efforts the Atlantic 10 awarded her Player of the Week honors on March 3. This is the first time a Flyer softball player has received this honors in over three years.
MEYER ONE OF A-10'S BEST
Atlantic 10 statistics show that Molly Meyer is one of the league's top hitters. As of April 7, Meyer is tied for first in hits (47) among all of the A-10 teams. In addition, she is tied for third in runs with 29 and ranks first in total bases with 59.
MY OH MEYER
As a leadoff hitter, Meyer has 47 hits in 125 at-bats for a season batting average of .376. Meyer has also collected a team-high 58 bases this season and has an on base percentage of .443. She went 3-of-4 inside the batter's box in her second game against North Dakota and 2-of-3 against South Dakota State University. Meyer also went 2-of-3 in back-to-back games at the Panther Invitational. During her UD career, she has hit a whopping .357 at the plate. This ranks her fourth all-time at Dayton.
MACI'S DAY PARADE
Sophomore slugger Anne Maci has been making a name for herself at the plate. On February 9 against North Dakota, Maci was 2-of-3, collected one double and drove in two runs. On the very next day, she went 2-of-3 again this time driving one runner in against the Fighting Sioux. In UD's win over Tennessee State, Maci was 3-of-4 and collected four RBI's. Against IUPUI she hit two home runs and a walk off double to win the game in extra innings. She has amassed 25 RBI's this season, shattering her career-best mark of five. In addition to breaking her best career mark, Maci is currently fifth in the A-10 for runs batted in.
GOING YARD
With her home run against La Salle on April 6, Blair Crabtree has climbed all the way up to third all-time in UD history with 11 homers. In addition, Crabtree is also second in the Atlantic 10 with 31 RBI's.
SIXTEEN CANDLES
At the UNI Classic, Blair Crabtree went 2-for-3 in back-to-back games on her birthday, February 9. She also collected one double, one RBI and crossed the plate twice. The icing on the cake was a .667 batting average on the day. Laura Matthews went 3-of-5 on her birthday March 2, smacking two doubles and tagging out the game-tying out to end the game against Appalachian State.
THE HITS KEEP COMING
Junior Mollie Schrank keeps piling up the hits for the Flyers. Schrank has 46 hits in 2008 moving her career total to 127 hits in 125 games. Schrank also leads the team with 10 stolen bases and is third in the nation with 16 sacrifice hits this season.
"MOLL"ING IT OVER
In addition to her 127 career hits, Schrank has also placed herself fourth among all Flyers past and present in batting average. She is currently batting .343 in her UD career.
THE ZIONSVILLE CANNON
Senior pitcher Erin Lafayette has thrown 146 career strikeouts. That total places her in sixth in Flyer history. Melissa Myher holds the all-time record for strikeouts in a career with 498. She has also pitched 321 innings, which places her sixth on UD's all-time list. LaFayette has struck out 53 so far this season.
SEVEN KINDS OF SMOKE
While her 146 strikeouts are nothing to scoff at, Erin Lafayette is also one of the most efficient pitchers in Flyer history. LaFayette has a current ratio of 3.2 strikeouts per seven innings.
THAT'S A RAPPE!
Sophomore Eva Rappe knows a thing or two about sitting batters down. Last season Rappe collected 21 strikeouts in 63.2 innings pitched. In 107 innings pitched this season, she has already sent 46 batters back to the dugout with their heads hung, including four strikeouts against North Dakota on February 10, six strikeouts against IPFW and four more in games against Temple and Saint Joseph's.
SAVE-A-LOT
Eva Rappe can bring the heat, but lately she's been known best for icing batters at the end of a game. At the EKU Invitational Rappe stepped in and shut down the Eastern Kentucky offense collecting her first collegiate save. In the next game, she repeated her effort, this time keeping Cleveland State at-bay for her second straight save giving her the new record for saves in a single-season. She added to that total on March 19 when she collected the save against Colgate, breaking the school record for career saves.
MUSIC CITY MASHER
Laura Matthews has quietly shot up the charts to be one of the team's top hitters. Last season she had 13 hits in 32 games, but through 37 games this year Matthews has already cranked out 32 hits. Matthews is presently batting a blazing .375 at the plate. She also hit her fourth career home run against Ohio. It was the first time Matthews hit a home run since April 23, 2006.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Senior catcher Laura Matthews has been a force behind the plate for the Flyers. Matthews has already thrown 12 runners out that have dared to steal a base on her watch. She has more than doubled her career mark this season which was previously set at nine thrown out.
KICKIN' WITH KJ
Coming into the season, junior Katie Jordan had only stepped up to the plate 15 times in her entire career with a batting average of .067. Jordan has already been at-bat 75 times, collecting two doubles, 13 runs and six RBI's. She leads the team in walks with 16.
FEATS OF STRENGTH
Freshman Emily Stegeman is making an impact in her first season. Stegeman has 12 runs on 28 hits. She is hitting .289 and has started all 37 games. However, more impressive are her 12 RBI's and two doubles that she has already amassed. Stegeman ranks fourth on the team in batting average. Stegeman has made numerous acrobatic plays including a diving catch to end the inning against Eastern Kentucky and another leaping out to rob the Colonels of a sure base-hit.
COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH
Sophomore Megan Lee has been a force in multiple games for the Flyers. With two outs and one runnner on base, Lee smacked her first collegiate home run win the game for Dayton 2-1 over Saint Joseph's. Against North Dakota, Lee stepped in and hit a double bringing in two RBI's. Versus Tennessee State, Lee went 2-of-3 at the plate. Lee is batting .223 through 35 games with five sacrifices.
BULS ON PARADE
Freshman Leah Buls collected her first win in an 8-3 downing of Cleveland State on March 2. She has pitched 15.0 innings and struck out five this season.
DESIGNATED PUNISHER
As a designated player Allie Falk has collected 18 hits and three doubles. Falk most notably hit a grand slam home run against Fordham on April 5. Not only was it the first grand slam of her collegiate careeer, but it was also the first home run at UD.
TOP THREE THE PLACE TO BE
Through 37 games there is one thing that the Flyers do know, they can hit the ball. In fact, among Atlantic 10 foes, they rank third in batting with a .283 average. In addition, UD has collected 42 doubles which ranks them fourth in the A-10. Dayton is averaging 1.14 doubles per game. Last year Dayton hit .233 with only 30 doubles.
PARTY STARTERS
If there is one thing the Flyers have a knack for, it is getting on the scoreboard early. The Flyers are outscoring their opponent in the opening two frames 60-48. UD is also outscoring the opposition 31-22 in the first inning.
THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM
The beginning of the Flyers season on February 9 came 31 days earlier than last season. In that time, the Flyers played in 13 games. When everything was said and done the Flyers played in 21 contests before facing Atlantic 10 competition. Only two other A-10 teams started their season as early as UD this year.
DAYTON "D" HAVING A FIELD DAY
Some say the best defense is a good offense, but what's so bad about a good defense as well? UD leads the Atlantic 10 with a .973 fielding percentage. The Flyers are second in the A-10 for allowing the fewest errors. In addition, the Flyers have caught 14 stealing already this season.
DAYTON PREDICTED TO FINISH TENTH IN ATLANTIC 10
A-10 Coaches have predicted that the University of Dayton Flyers softball team will finish tenth in Atlantic 10 play this season. This season 10 letter-winners return to the young Flyer squad.Rounding out the top six spots in the coaches poll are UMass, Fordham, Saint Louis, Charlotte, Temple and Saint Joseph's.
GOCKEN AMONG 2007 JUNIOR COLLEGE CATCHERS OF THE YEAR
Lyndsi Gocken was among 10 catchers named the 2007 Diamond Sports Catcher of the Year. The award, presented by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and Diamond Sports, is given to the top catcher from NFCA member schools. Gocken was the recipient of the award for the National Junior College Athletics Association Division III level.
PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES
UD began the season on a 25-game road swing taking them through two time zones and nine different states. In addition, the Flyers played in four different tournaments before playing at Charlotte in March. Over the course of the season they are expected to log more than 10,000 miles on the road round-trip.
