Rhody Prepares for Key Series Against Dayton

The Rams and the Flyers have played one another 50 times heading into the weekend series.
Rhody has a 30-20 all-time advantage dating back to the teams' first meeting in 1997.
URI has taken two of its last three series played against the Flyers. Rhode Island grabbed two-of-three on the road in Ohio in 2022 and repeated the effort last year.
In 2023, the last series that the teams played at Bill Beck Field, Dayton opened up the weekend with a pair of wins before the Rams rallied for an 11-6 victory in the third contest.
Senior Eric Genther batted .462 in last year's series at Dayton, going 6-for-13 with two doubles, a triple and three RBI.
He scored five runs while adding four putouts in the outfield.
As a team, Rhode Island hit .276 with eight doubles, two triples and six home runs in the 2024 series at Dayton. The Flyers batted .358 while matching the Rams' home run total.
Former closer Tommy Smith earned two saves over the course of the weekend, posting a 0.00 ERA through 3.2 innings. He fanned two batters while working around four hits.

THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE...

This weekend's series at Bill Beck Field will feature two of the top teams in Atlantic 10 Baseball.
Rhode Island and Dayton are currently in a five-way tie for first place.
George Mason (24-13, 10-5 A-10), Saint Joseph's (16-17, 10-5 A-10) and Davidson (15-20, 10-5 A-10) are also at the top of the conference alongside the Rams and the Flyers.
The Wildcats will make the trip to Philly this weekend to take on the Hawks for a three-game set, while George Mason will be at UMass.
All five teams are gunning for not only the regular season title, but also for the first-round bye at the 2025 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship.
The top seed will take on the winner of the No. 4 vs. No 5 game on the second day of action at Capital One Park in Tysons, Va.
Championship play is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, May 24.
Last year's top seed, Saint Louis, lost its first game to No. 4 Richmond and was eliminated by No. 7 Saint Joseph's the following day.

A NEW FACE FOR THE FLYERS

Dayton is playing under first-year head coach Scott Loiseau, who was named to the position on June 24, 2024.
Loiseau was most recently the Associate Head Coach at Penn State after spending 14 years as head coach at Southern New Hampshire (NCAA Division II).
In his lone season in the Happy Valley, he helped the Nittany Lions achieve their first winning record since the 2016 season.
In 14 years at SNHU, Loiseau compiled a record of 480-209-2 (.696) and led the Penmen to 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and five trips to the NCAA Division II College World Series.
Both Loiseau and VCU's Sean Thompson are in their first years at their respective institutions.
Of the league's 12 head coaches, four have been at their current stops for less than five years.
The longest-tenured coach is Saint Louis' Darin Hendrickson, who is in his 18th season with the Billikens in 2025.
Rhode Island's Raphael Cerrato is in his 11th year leading the Rams.

Players Mentioned