Live Stats

The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team will play its final regular season series of the season this weekend when they travel to Brooklyn, NY to take on the Blackbirds of LIU Brooklyn in a four-game NEC series.  The set will begin on Friday with the first contest beginning at 3:00 p.m.  Saturday will feature a pair of seven-inning games starting at 1:00 p.m., while the finale is set for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.  The Knights' magic number for clinching its first playoff spot since 1999 is one.
 
Last Time Out: FDU (23-23-1, 17-11 NEC) split its four-game series against the Mount last weekend at home, winning the final two games behind senior Matt Holsman (Coral Springs, FL/Stoneman Douglas)'s grand slam in the third game and senior co-captain Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic)'s complete-game effort in the finale, which took place on senior day.
 
Freshman Jordan Ritz (Newport News, Va./Woodside), who was named NEC Rookie of the Week on Monday, led the Knights by hitting .500 (8-for-16) with four runs scored and a RBI in the series and has hit safely over his last six games.  Junior Eric Anderson (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) busted out of a slump by hitting .400 (6-for-15) against the Mount with his team-leading eighth home run, which proved to be the game-winner in the series finale as his two-run shot broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth. 

Senior co-captain Ryan Kresky (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) busted out of his slump as well, hitting .375 (6-for-16) with his fifth home run of the season, three runs scored, and five RBIs.  Holsman hit .313 (5-for-16) in the series with a grand slam, four runs scored, two doubles and four RBIs out of the lead-off spot and currently has a seven-game hit streak, while hitting safely in 19 of the last 20 games.  Eliasen improved to 7-3 on the season and picked up his fourth complete game as he allowed one earned run on five hits, while walking three, striking out four and plunking a batter in the Knights' 4-1 win on Sunday.  

Notes:
• FDU's 23 wins are the most since the 1997 team won 23 games.
• FDU's 17 conference wins are its most in NEC history and the most since 1987 team won 16 in the ECAC Metro, which was the most any FDU team has ever won in conference play.
• FDU's magic number is now one. Another win or Wagner loss will clinch the team's first playoff appearance since 1999.
• With its split with the Mount, FDU has either won or split six of their seven NEC series this season with its only series loss coming to Monmouth to start NEC play.
• FDU concluded the home portion of its schedule with a record of 14-8-1.

Scouting LIU Brooklyn: The Blackbirds (19-32, 10-18 NEC), who were picked to finish fifth in the nine-team NEC, are currently in seventh place.  Last year's surprise team in the NEC, LIU has not won an NEC series all year and had lost three in a row before splitting at Quinnipiac last weekend.
 
The Blackbirds are led by sophomore outfielder Pete Leonello, who leads the NEC in hits with 65 and leads his squad in hitting with a .323 average, runs scored with 36, walks with 28 and stolen bases with 11.  Leonello also has one home run, 27 RBIs, nine doubles and three triples.  Senior catcher Tyler Jones, who was the NEC batting champion last season, is hitting a solid .287 (56-for-188) with a team-best four home runs, a team-high 28 RBIs, 10 doubles, a team-best four triples and 28 runs scored.
 
As a team, the Blackbirds are hitting .269 (450-for-1673) and have scored 240 runs (4.7 runs per game).  LIU has struck out 358 times, drawn 161 walks and committed only 54 errors (.972 fielding percentage) on defense.  Opponents are hitting .264 (409-for-1551) off Blackbirds' pitching and have scored 249 runs (4.9 runs per game), drawn 217 walks and struck out 291 times as the pitching staff has recorded a team ERA of 4.62.
 
All-Time Series: The Knights and the Blackbirds will be getting together for the 127th time in the all-time series with LIU holding a 63-61-2 advantage.  The very first game in the series was played back in 1953, an 11-4 LIU win.  The two teams have played each other every year since 1962 as the former Metropolitan and ECAC Metropolitan rivals used to play multiples times in a season.  The Blackbirds have taken three of four games in the last two series.  FDU swept LIU in a four-game series at home in 2009.
 
Next Up: The Knights will be looking to play in the Northeast Conference Tournament at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT starting next Thursday, May 17.  Please check back to www.fduknights.com after this weekend to find out more information.