TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team is set to begin its 2018 campaign this weekend with three games in Tennessee.
 
The Knights open against Middle Tennessee State on Friday afternoon, followed by a game Saturday at Belmont and then Sunday's final game of the weekend at Lipscomb. There will be live stats for all three contests
 
Friday, February 23 at Middle Tennesee State (3-1)
4:00 PM (EST)
Live Stats | Audio
Pitching Matchup:
Trent Valentine – RHP (FDU) vs Jake Wyrick - LHP (MTSU)
 
Saturday, February 24 at Belmont (2-2)
1:00 PM
Live Stats
Pitching Matchup:
Aaron Cohn – RHP (FDU) vs Connor Etheridge RHP (BU)
 
Sunday, February 25 at Lipscomb (2-2)
1:00 PM
Live Stats
Pitching Matchup:
Corey Zeller – RHP (FDU) vs Noah Thompson LHP (LU)
 
 
Middle Tennesee State
The Blue Raiders are 3-1 on the season with a three-game sweep of Western Illinois before suffering a 4-0 defeat to Alabama this past Tuesday. The team is led by senior Aaron Aucker, who was named third team preseason All-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) after batting a career-best .369 with 11 home runs and 71 RBI in 2017.
 
Belmont
The Bruins split a pair of games against Youngstown State to begin the season and host Kent State on Friday. Across the first three games of the season, three Bruins are batting .400 or better led by senior outfielder Cully Day's .455 clip. Day has also knocked in a team-leading three runs.
 
Lipscomb
Lipscomb opened with a pair of wins over UNC Asheville last week before dropping the final game of the series. In their last game, the Bisons suffered an 8-5 setback at Tennessee. Sophomore outfielder Josh Martinez and junior third baseman Zeke Dodson have led the team's attack through the first four contests batting .385 and .357, respectively. Dodson has smacked two home runs and knocked in four runs on the campaign.
 
The Knights
FDU will send a pair of freshmen to the mound in the first two games of the season before turning to junior right-hander Corey Zeller in the weekend finale.
 
With the loss of three of the program's top players of all-time, Matt McCann, Ryan Brennan and Logan Frati, the Knights will turn to a mix of younger players as well as last year's top performers sophomore left fielder Mike Veit, junior catcher Evan McDonald, and senior third baseman Bobby Romano.

Veit, who was named All-Northeast Conference (NEC) Second Team, earned the the program's first freshman All-American honor following a stellar first season with the Knights. The outfielder led the Knights with a .382 batting average this season across his 89 at bats. On the season, Veit totaled 34 hits, 18 runs scored, 11 RBI and five doubles, while appearing in 38 games.

McDonald served as the Knights' primary catcher starting 41 games in which he played, ranked eighth in the NEC in batting average at .333 and fifth in slugging at .541. His seven home runs were tied for fifth most in the conference. Veit recorded 53 hits in his 159 at bats with 12 doubles, 34 RBI and 24 runs scored.

Romano, who won the NEC's home run title last season by launching nine long balls, finished with a .289 batting average and 48 hits across his 45 games as the Knights' primary third baseman. On the campaign, Romano totaled 166 at bats, 41 RBI, 41 runs scored and 12 stolen bases on 15 tries.
 
In addition to the aforementioned trio, head coach Gary Puccio is excited about his newcomers and expects to receive major contributions from Valentine, Cohn and his other young arms this season. Puccio begins his eighth season at the helm and is just one win away from passing John Orsino for third all-time at FDU with 126 victories.
 
Next Up:
The Knights visit Lafayette next Tuesday, March 6 with first pitch set for 3:00 p.m.