Flyers softball opens NCAA at Tennessee
For the first time in school history, Dayton softball will be one of 64 schools with a chance to compete for a National Championship.
The Flyers will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee, and take on Regional host and the third overall seed Tennessee Volunteers on Friday afternoon.
UT finished 40-10, 19-5 in the SEC and a stellar 20-2 mark at home. Their only two home losses were to Georgia and LSU. They also played the nation’s top team, Texas, to a close 2-1 loss in Clearwater in February.
Tennessee centerfielder Kiki Milloy and left fielder Rylie West are both hitting a team-best .355 and have combined for 23 homeruns and 59 RBI on the season. Milloy leads the team with 49 runs scored and has stolen 24 of 27 bases.
Tennessee boasts a pair of 19-game winners with Payton Gottshall (1.25 ERA) and Karlyn Pickens (1.26 ERA) each holding opponents to under a .175 batting average.
Dayton will have their hands full as they have two common opponents this season. Dayton lost to Kentucky 4-3 in the final inning and dropped a 6-2 decision to Ohio State. Tennessee swept all five games they played against those two opponents.
The Flyers have three solid pitchers with Izzy Kemp (11-6) and Haven Dwyer (14-5) each collecting double-digit wins. Sarah Bailitz has also won eight games with Kemp and Bailitiz possessing a sub-two ERA.
Five different Flyers are hitting over .300 with Chloe Wong’s .360 leading the way. Maddie Kapsimalas is right behind her at .350 and leads the team with eight home runs and 43 RBI.
Last year’s Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, Emma Schutter, saw a significant drop-off in batting average (.313), but is still one of the best leadoff hitters in the A10. Coach Clark said the Flyers have the best 9-1-2 hitters in the conference with Emily Daniel (.312) turning the lineup over to Schutter and A10 First Team All Conference freshman shortstop Kirnan Bailey (.302). The three of them have combined for 80 stolen bases on 86 attempts.
If Dayton is going to have a shot at a Cinderella type run against a strong Vols team, they’ll need to do it with solid pitching, small ball, and timely hitting.
First pitch on Friday will be at 2:30 PM ET and will be streamed on ESPN+.