TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team takes on University of Pennsylvania for a home-and-home doubleheader this weekend.
 
The Knights (2-7-1) will look to end their seven-game skid when they face the Quakers (5-4) for four straight contests this weekend. Saturday's double-dip will be played at Penn's Meiklejohn Stadium before the teams head up the New Jersey Turnpike to the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex for two games on Sunday.

Saturday, March 16 at Penn
Game 1: Live Stats | ESPN+
Game 2: Live Stats | ESPN+
12:00 PM
Pitching Matchup:
Chris Quijano – RHP (FDU vs. Christian Scafidi - RHP (Penn)
 Pitching Matchup:
Aaron Cohn – RHP (FDU) vs. John Alan Kendrick - LHP (Penn)

Sunday, March 17 vs. Penn
Live Stats
12:00 PM
Pitching Matchup:
Brendan Medoro - RHP (FDU) vs. Mitchell Holcomb – RHP (Penn)
Pitching Matchup:
TBD (FDU) vs. TBD (Penn)
 
The Series
These two teams split a four-game series last season at MCU Park in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Knights won the series opener 7-3 and game three 3-1 but the Quakers won the second and fourth games 6-3 and 16-8, respectively. Last season's four-game tilt was the first all-time meeting between the teams.

Scouting Penn
The Quakers enter the weekend series on a two-game winning streak in which they scored 13 and 19 runs in each win, respectively. The team took two of three games at Winthrop (13-5 and 13-4) before dominating Lafayette 19-3 in their last outing. Craig Larsen was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week and Big 5 Player of the Week after big performances against Duke and Winthrop. He followed up the honors with a grand slam in the first inning against Lafayette on Tuesday and leads the league with two homers on the season. As a team, the Quakers have registered the most hits (103), runs (71), RBI (57), extra-base hits (33), doubles (24), triples (4), home runs (5), total bases (150), and walks (50) among all Ivy League programs. They also feature the best batting average (.289), slugging percentage (.420) and on-base percentage (.389) among all Ivy League teams.

The Burgundy and Blue Report
The 2019 campaign is off to a strong start for the Knights who began the slate 2-0-1 but they have since lost their last seven contests. The team traveled out to California last week and played four games against CSU Bakersfield and one at California Baptist. Against Bakersfield, the Knights led in three of the four games but were unable to pull out the win. In their loss at California Baptist on Tuesday, freshman right-hander Emmanuel Corporan made his first start for the Knights and provided an effective 6.2 innings allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits, while striking out four and walking four.
 
Freshman shortstop Nate Brodsky is the Knights' leadoff man and has led the team in hitting through the first 10 games. The West Palm Beach, Florida native is batting .326 on the season and leads the team with 14 hits and seven runs scored. Brodsky and junior outfielder Mike Veit (.321) are the two Knights' hitting above the .300 mark on the season. Senior captains Evan McDonald and Bobby Romano sit tied atop the team's RBI leaderboard with freshmen Salvatore Monticciolo and Tom Ruscitti at five runs batted in.
 
On the mound, first-year Knight Brendan Medoro leads the team with 16 innings pitched and has pitched to a 5.06 ERA on the campaign. Sophomore Chris Quijano has been the team's most effective starter with a 2.63 ERA and 10 strikeouts across his 13.2 innings of work.
 
Next Up
Following their series with the Quakers, the Knights welcome Lehigh for a single game on Tuesday, March 19 at 3:00 p.m.