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Baseball to Host LIU Brooklyn This Weekend

Saturday's Live Video
Live Stats

TEANECK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team will look to build on its momentum from the previous weekend when it hosts LIU Brooklyn four a four-game-Northeast Conference-set at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex. The two sides start the series on Friday at 3 p.m. contest before playing a pair of seven-inning games at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The set will conclude on Sunday with the finale at 1 p.m.

The weekend series begins a 10-game homestand for the Burgundy and Blue. Saturday's doubleheader will be steamed live on NEC Front Row and can be accessed on FDUKnights.com.

Despite losing three out of four last weekend at Wagner, the Knights (4-21, 1-11 NEC) won the series finale, 13-12, in 16 innings. FDU pounded out a season-high 23 hits, with freshman Joel Roman (East Hartford, Conn./East Hartford) leading the way with five safeties, including the game-winning RBI single in the top of the 16th. Freshman Logan Frati (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport/South Manor) pitched the final five innings to record his first career victory.

Senior Kyle Weeks (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood), who is the lone Knight to play and start all 25 games, leads FDU in hitting (.318), hits (28), doubles (7), slugging percentage (.398), walks (16) and hit by pitch (5) while ranking second in runs (12) and RBI (10). Sophomore Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) leads the squad in runs (18) and triples (3), while senior Eric Anderson (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) is the leader in RBI with 12. Anderson, Roman and freshman Dylan Sprague (Brunswick, N.Y./Averill Park) have each hit a home run for the Knights.

On the mound, freshman Nick Cuono (Hawthorne, N.J./Montvale Saint Joseph ) leads the staff in wins (2) and innings pitched (32.1). Sophomore Brendan Butler (W. Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) is the leader in strikeouts with 22, and fellow classmate Yonah Perline (Dix Hills, N.Y./St. Dominic) has a team-best 5.65 ERA in 18 appearances out of the bullpen.

LIU (7-20, 3-5 NEC), who was picked to finish in fifth place in the nine-team NEC, is currently in seventh place after splitting with Central Connecticut State last weekend at home, winning the first two before dropping the final two contests. LIU's other victory in the conference came on the road at Sacred Heart. Earlier this week, the Blackbirds won on the road at Villanova, 5-3.

As a team, LIU is hitting .269 and averaging 4.1 runs per game. Junior John Ziznewski leads the squad with a .388 batting average and also leads the team in runs (22), hits (40), triples (3) and stolen bases (9). Senior Chris Untereiner is hitting .320 with 32 hits and a team-best 16 RBI, sharing that honor with junior Kevin Needham. Needham is also hitting .320 with 31 hits and 17 runs. He also has two home runs, one behind senior Mike Garcia, who has three home runs and 14 RBI.

Defensively, the Blackbirds have fielding percentage of .957 and have committed 42 errors. Opponents are averaging 7.7 runs per game while hitting .303 off LIU pitching.

Redshirt junior Justin Topa, who is the ace of the staff, has a 3-4 record and a 4.04 ERA in seven starts. In a team-best 44.1 innings pitched, Topa has struck out a team-high 46, and opponents are only hitting .241 off him. In 15 appearances out of the bullpen, senior Evan Zerff has a 3.24 ERA with 28 strikeouts, and Needham has three saves as the closer and a 3.72 ERA in 9.2 innings of work. Collectively, the staff has pitched to a 6.81 ERA.

In the all-time series, the two sides have met 135 times, with the Blackbirds leading, 68-65-2. Last season, LIU won three of four in Brooklyn, N.Y., but FDU's win in the opener clinched the program's first NEC Tournament berth since 1999.

After their four-game series with the Blackbirds, the Knights will return to action Wednesday, April 17 when they host Saint Peter's in a nonconference game, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex. The contest is a makeup game from earlier in the season.
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