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The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team will take on Hartford in its only mid-week contest this week as the Knights and Hawks will compete on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. in West Hartford, CT at Fiondella Field.
 
Last Time Out: FDU (4-9-1) opened Northeast Conference play last weekend against Monmouth, who was picked to win the league.  The Knights were competitive in the four-game series and managed to win the final game on Sunday, 12-8.  FDU pitched well enough to win games one and three of the series as they fell to the Hawks in both contests, 3-1.  The Knights were shutout by a score of 9-0 in the second game.
 
Junior Eric Anderson (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) had a monster series for FDU against Monmouth.  The Knights' clean-up man hit a sizzling .692 (9-for-13) with a double, home run, four RBI's, and three runs scored, while recording a slugging percentage of 1.000, an on-base percentage of .733 and drawing two walks.
 
Junior Kyle Weeks (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) and senior Matt Holsman (Coral Springs, FL/Stoneman Douglas) hit .357 and .333, respectively, in the series as they combined for nine hits, including two doubles, two RBI's and a run scored.
 
Senor Ryan Kresky (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) scored four runs, which all came in the win on Sunday, and freshman Mike Hewson (Sayville, NY/Sayville) added three RBI's in the series.

Junior Craig Warner (Coral Springs, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) gave FDU a quality start in the opener by allowing three runs, one earned, on hits eights, while walking one and striking out three in 7.0 innings of work.  All three runs were scored in the bottom of the first.
 
Freshman Brendan Butler (W. Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) also gave the Knights a quality start in game three of the series as he allowed three earned runs on five hits in 6.0 innings of work, while walking one and striking out three.

Senior Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) picked up his team-leading second victory of the season in the win in the series finale.  Despite being tagged for seven earned runs in the second and third innings, the co-captain rebounded over the final six innings to limit the Hawks to only one earned run for the complete game victory.  Eliasen struck out a career-best 10 without allowing a walk.
 
Anderson leads the Knights in hitting (.455), home runs (5), RBI's (13), hits (20), slugging (.818) and on-base percentage (.545).  Kresky is hitting a healthy .380 on the year and leads the team in runs (11) and walks (12).  He has pounded out 19 hits, which includes four doubles and two home runs, and has collected nine RBI's while slugging .580 and recording an on-base percentage of .523.
 
Eliasen leads the pitching staff with his 2-1 record.  With the exception of a couple innings, he has been the FDU ace as he has struck out 30 batters and has only walked three in 28.0 innings pitched.  Warner has posted a 4.50 ERA to lead the team and has struck out six, walked four and allowed only eight earned runs in 16.0 innings of work.  Butler has bounced back from his first start of the season to hold opponents to a .232 batting average in 16.0 innings.
 
Scouting Hartford: The Hawks (1-14), who are picked to finish fifth in the six-team America East Conference, are off to a tough start this season as they have dropped 13 of their first 14 decisions, including their last eight after knocking off NEC opponent Central Connecticut State at home, 5-2.  Hartford has lost to the likes of Oklahoma, VMI, Kansas State and Pittsburgh on the road along with dropping a home game to Massachusetts. 
 
Sophomore catcher James Alfonso currently leads the Hawks in batting (.408), hits (20-for-49), runs scored (12), slugging percentage (.592), on-base percentage (.540), walks (9), HBP (5), while hitting two home runs for his only two RBI's of the season.  Redshirt senior Andy Drexel is hitting .339 (19-for-56), has scored 11 runs and is Hartford's top power threat with three home runs, 14 RBI's and five doubles.
 
As a team, the Hawks are hitting .265 (134-for-505) with 63 runs scored (4.2 runs per game).  Hartford has struck out 137 times, drawn 33 walks and has made 31 errors on defense.  Opponents are hitting .308 (152-for-494) off Hawks' pitching and have scored 125 runs (8.3 runs per game), drawn 99 walks and struck out 80 times.
 
The Hawks are scheduled to start sophomore left-handed pitcher Zach Ferris on the mound against the Knights.
 
All-Time Series: The Knights have failed to win the only two games in the series.  The first contest took place in the ECAC Tournament in 1988 as the Hawks ended the FDU season with a 24-2 victory.  Last season, Hartford shutout the Knights at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex by a score of 7-0
 
Next Up: The Knights will once again hit the road as they will play a critical four-game NEC series at Quinnipiac, starting Friday, March 23 at 3:00 p.m.  Saturday will feature a seven-inning doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. before the series finale Sunday at 1:00 p.m.