“We have a lot of experienced, really steady leaders,” Clark-LaPlaca said Thursday. “So I think that’s been really helpful in terms of gameplay. We’ve gotten contributions throughout our lineup. People have stepped into some really key roles, and we’ve gotten production in all phases — in the circle, the defense is solid, our offense is clicking. Even baserunning. I think we’re really aggressive in creating opportunities and taking advantage and creating mistakes for opponents. We’ve been able to win in a variety of ways.”
Dayton (19-12, 5-1) has won four games in a row and sits alone in first place in the Atlantic 10 Conference ahead of Saint Louis (14-19, 6-2). The Flyers and Billikens start a three-game series at UD at 4 p.m. Friday.
The Flyers took two of three games from Massachusetts (10-19, 2-6) at home in their first A-10 series and then swept three games at George Washington (11-16, 2-7) last weekend.
“Sweeping a series is challenging enough,” Clark-LaPlaca said, “but to do it on the road with some of those factors that the general public doesn’t always see — some of the travel concerns and just not being in your own bed and being out of your routine — it goes a long way for sure. We were proud of the team and how we responded and took advantage of that opportunity.”
Dayton followed the sweep with a 4-2 victory at Butler, a second-place team in the Big East, on Tuesday.
Dayton was picked to finish fourth out of 10 teams in the A-10 preseason poll and received one first-place vote. A season ago, the Flyers (22-25, 12-11) placed fifth. This season, they seek their first A-10 championship since 2015 when they were 39-14 overall and 20-2 in the A-10.
Dayton has three of the top 10 hitters in the A-10. Sophomore second baseman Maddie Kapsimalis, of Glenville, Ill., leads the league in average (27 for 61, .443). Sophomore center fielder Emma Schutter, a Centerville graduate, ranks third (41 of 102, .402).
First baseman Alyssa Cacini, a graduate student from Arlington Heights, Ill., is eighth in average (32 of 91, .352). She is tied for third with five home runs and ranks fourth with 24 RBIs.
“They’re all at the top of the order,” Clark-LaPlaca said, “and creating some really good opportunities and driving runs in and fulfilling whatever role that may be the game calls on them in the moment. They’ve all been really key to our success as well.”
Freshman Izzy Kemp, of Westfield, Ind., has compiled the best pitching numbers in the A-10. She’s 8-4 in 13 starts with 1.05 ERA and a league-leading 120 strikeouts.
“She’s got the It factor,” Clark-LaPlaca said. “She’s got good stuff. She can throw it all in all quadrants and change speeds. She’s a tough one to prepare for because she can throw a couple of different game plans depending on the offense.”
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