April 21, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
With only two weeks remaining in the regular season, the University of Dayton Flyers look to regain their stride against in-state foes Wright State and Akron. The homestanding Flyers are 5-5 this season within the confines of UD Softball Stadium and have taken two of their last three at home.
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Jherica Williams leads the Raiders batting .489 through 44 games played. Williams has smacked 13 home runs and 16 doubles for the Raiders while collecting 134 total bases this season. Sophomore transfer Sharon Palma has carried the brunt of the workload for WSU striking out 93 batters and tossing a one-hitter against Cleveland State. Historically, UD trails Wright State for wins in the series 26-46-1 and were swept last year at Wright State.
SCOUTING THE ZIPS
Dayton will travel to Akron on Wednesday to complete the weekday slate for the Flyers. Akron is 15-31 this season and 3-7 at home. They are led by junior outfielder Lisa McLean. Through 46 games McLean is swatting .340 and has hit eight triples this season. She's complemented in the circle by senior Christina Swierz. In 41 appearances Swierz has thrown for a 5.60 ERA, striking out 118 and collecting 15 wins. Dayton hasn't faced Akron since 1992, but the Zips hold an 8-2 advantage over the Flyers lifetime.
FLYERS ADD TWO MORE TO 2008-09 RECRUITING CLASS
Head coach Cara Clark and the University of Dayton softball team added two more future Flyers to the 2008-2009 recruiting class on April 10 inking Courtney Kutsulis and Lauren Nacke to National Letters of Intent. With the latest additions Dayton has now added five total players to the 2008-2009 recruiting class. Clark and her staff inked Brandy Brown, Raime Cronkhite and Kristina Ortiz all to letters of intent during the early signing period last fall. The five signings mark the beginning of head coach Cara Clark's first full recruiting class at Dayton.
MEYER ONE OF A-10'S BEST
Atlantic 10 statistics show that Molly Meyer is one of the league's top hitters. Meyer has cranked out 53 hits this season including seven doubles.In addition, she leads the conference in total bases with 66 and is tied for third in runs scored with 33. Meyer also leads the A-10 with three triples this season.
MY OH MEYER
As a leadoff hitter, Meyer has 53 hits in 148 at-bats for a season batting average of .351. Meyer has an on base percentage of .437. She went 3-of-4 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. At George Washington she hit 4-for-5 in the second game driving in one run and scoring one. During her UD career, she has hit a whopping .347 placing her third in UD history.
MACI'S DAY PARADE
Sophomore slugger Anne Maci has been making a name for herself at the plate. On April 12, she swatted a home run at George Washington. 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 30 RBI's this season, shattering her career-best mark of five.
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 ranks second in the Atlantic 10 with 36 RBI's.
BLAIR'S BANNER YEAR
Blair Crabtree has had one of the most remarkable senior seasons in recent Flyer history. In her final year, Crabtree has nearly doubled her RBI and hit totals. In addition, Crabtree went 4-for-4 against Rhode Island driving in four runners in the game. For her efforts she is second in the A-10 in RBI's and tied for fourth in total bases.
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 leads the Atlantic 10 with 56 hits, giving her career totals of 137 hits in 395 at-bats. Schrank also leads the team with 10 stolen bases and is third in the nation with 18 sacrifice hits this season.
"MOLL"ING IT OVER
In addition to her 137 career hits, Schrank has also placed herself fourth among all Flyers past and present in batting average. She is currently batting .346 in her UD career.
THE ZIONSVILLE CANNON
Senior pitcher Erin Lafayette has thrown 173 career strikeouts. That total places her fourth in Flyer history. Melissa Myher holds the all-time record for strikeouts in a career with 498. She has also pitched 354 innings, which places her fourth on UD's all-time list. LaFayette has struck out 80 so far this season. She set a career-best against Rhode Island striking out nine batters in a single game.
SEVEN KINDS OF SMOKE
While her 173 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 3.42 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 118 innings pitched this season, she has already sent 56 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. Most recently, Rappe came in relief in extra innings against URI to collect the win over the Rams, retiring the last three batters in order.
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 as one of the team's top hitters. Last season she had 13 hits in 32 games, but through 41 games this year Matthews has already cranked out 39 hits. Matthews is presently batting .339 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.
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 was the first time a Flyer softball player has received this honor in over three years.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Senior catcher Laura Matthews has also been a force behind the plate for the Flyers. Matthews has already thrown 13 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 91 times, collecting three doubles, 15 runs and six RBI's.
FEATS OF STRENGTH
Freshman Emily Stegeman is making an impact in her first season. Stegeman has 15 runs on 34 hits. She is hitting .291 and has started all 45 games. However, more impressive are her 16 RBI's and her ranking 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 .235 through 43 games with seven sacrifices. Lee has also not made an error in right field, her first season playing the position.
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 21 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.
RANKING WITH THE BEST
Through 45 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 .281 average. In addition, UD has collected 53 doubles which ranks them fourth in the A-10. Dayton is averaging 1.18 doubles per game. Last year Dayton hit .233 with only 30 doubles.
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 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 .972 fielding percentage ranking them 18th in the nation. Dayton has committed the fewest errors among all of its A-10 peers. In addition, the Flyers have caught 15 stealing already this season.
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.
