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TEANECK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team (12-23, 3-9 NEC) returns to Northeast Conference action this weekend when it travels to Brooklyn, N.Y. to take on fourth-place LIU Brooklyn (20-19-1, 7-9 NEC) for a four-game set starting on Friday at 3 p.m. The two sides will play a pair of seven-inning contests on Saturday starting at 1 p.m., before playing Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m. A big weekend by the Knights will put them back into the thick of the NEC Tournament hunt with eight games to go. FDU is currently two games out of the final spot.

Last Time Out
The Knights split its four-game series with NJIT last weekend at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex, taking the two middle contests in the set. FDU nearly hit .300 as a team and a pair of freshmen led the way, as NEC Co-Rookie of the Week Matt McCann (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro ) hit .583 (7-for-12) with two runs, two RBI and three stolen bases, while Zach Tondi (Wood-Ridge, N.J./Bergen County Technical) went 6-for-12 with a team-best five RBI. Sophomore Ryan Brennan (Mooresville, N.C./Mooresville) connected at a .333 clip and scored a team-high four runs. The hurlers pitched to a respectable 4.67 ERA, and freshman Joe Flack (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys) constructed the best effort, as he allowed one earned run and scattered six hits to pick up his first victory of the season in game two of the series. Junior Eric Snyder (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) collected his fifth save of the season in game three.

LIU Brooklyn
2014 Season: 20-19-1 (7-9 NEC, 4th place)
When: May 2-4, 2014
Where: Brooklyn, N.Y. (LIU Field)
Series History: NJIT leads 71-66-2
Last Meeting: April 14, 2013 - LIU 11 FDU 9 (LIU won series, 3-1)
What You Need To Know: The Blackbirds, who are the second-best hitting team in the NEC (.301), come into the series after splitting four games on the road with Sacred Heart last weekend. LIU split with Wagner at home to begin conference play, before taking three out of four at Mount St. Mary's. Two weekends ago, the Blackbirds lost all four of their games at first-place Bryant. LIU features arguably the best player in the league in senior shortstop John Ziznewski, who leads the NEC in home runs (7), RBI (45), total bases (92), and slugging percentage (.590). He also is the co-leader in hits with teammate Bobby Webb, as both have 57, and also is the co-leader in runs scored with teammate Pete Leonello, as both have 43. He also ranks second in the conference in stolen bases with 13 and third in batting average (.365). Webb is second in the NEC in hitting with a .380 clip, 35 RBI and 11 doubles. John McAllister is hitting .338 with 54 hits, 38 runs and 10 stolen bases, while Leonello adds a .323 average, 10 doubles and 11 stolen bases. As a team, LIU is averaging 6.4 runs per game. On the bump, the Blackbirds are pitching to a 5.92 ERA and have yielded 390 hits in 325.0 innings while walking 131 and striking out 195.

Up Next
The Knights will return home for their final home series of the season when they host first-place Bryant for a four-game series at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex May 9-11.