HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team ventures to Staten Island, N.Y., for a crucial Northeast Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Wagner.
 
The games are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., and live stats will be provided at wagnerathletics.com.
 
ENTERING THE WEEKEND
The Knights (13-32, 3-7 NEC) earned a split of a non-conference doubleheader against Lafayette Wednesday by capturing a 4-2 victory in the later game. After falling in nine innings, 3-2, in the opening contest, the Knights scored three runs in the closing frames of the game to help end the day with a victory. Freshman Courtney Mahoney earned her first pitching victory of her collegiate career by throwing five innings and allowing only one run with three strikeouts, and junior Erica Johnson closed out the game for her first save of the season. Freshman Amarys Miller-Godsey drove in two runs with a RBI double in the sixth inning, and senior Reanna Cervantes went 3-for-6 combined with a home run and a RBI single as well.
 
SEASON LEADERS
Junior Madison Emerson finished Wednesday's doubleheader 3-for-7 to raise her team-best batting average to .348 for the season, also raising her on-base percentage to .420. Cervantes leads the Knights with 35 hits, four home runs and 14 RBI this season while hitting .294. She along with Miller-Godsey each have six doubles, and sophomore Rylie Schmeh leads the NEC with four triples this year. Senior Holly Mercier has scored a team-high 15 runs. In the circle, senior Baylee Ports sports a team-best ERA of 3.19 and has eight complete games in 21 appearances. She also has a team-high 77 strikeouts in 107.2 innings this season, ranking third in the NEC in strikeouts. Ports along with sophomore Abby England (3.30) and Johnson (3.67) all rank in the top 10 in the NEC in ERA this season.
 
TEAM RANKS IN THE NEC
The Knights sport the second-best fielding percentage among NEC teams at .968, trailing only first-place LIU Brooklyn by four one-hundreths of a point. FDU pitchers have also combined to collect 205 strikeouts this season, good for second-most among league teams and 55 more than the next NEC team (Mount St. Mary's, 150).
 
200 STRIKEOUT CLUB
Ports currently sits at 196 career strikeouts entering Saturday's games at Wagner. With four more punchouts, she will become the fifth Knight in program history to record 200 in a career. This season, she has recorded at least four strikeouts in 10 of 21 appearances with a season-high of nine in a win over Iona. Her 77 punchouts this season are her most in a season in her career and is currently the 11th-most in a single season in program history. Ports is also in the FDU top 10 for appearances (third – 90), shutouts (tied for third – 4), saves (fifth – 3), wins (sixth – 15), innings pitched (sixth – 315.2) and starts (10th – 47).
 
AROUND THE NEC
The Knights enter this second-to-last weekend of the season in seventh place in the NEC. LIU Brooklyn (7-1) occupies the top spot in the standings, followed by Bryant (7-3), Sacred Heart (7-5) and Saint Francis U (7-5) as the four teams in the NEC Tournament if the season ended today. Also ahead of the Knights are Mount St. Mary's (6-6) and Robert Morris (4-4). FDU has season splits with LIU Brooklyn, Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut State (2-6) but were swept by both Bryant and Mount and face SFU and Robert Morris the following weekend. This weekend's matchups include LIU Brooklyn traveling to play at Robert Morris and SFU, Mount hosting CCSU then traveling to Robert Morris, and Wagner hosting CCSU after playing the Knights. Sacred Heart also plays at Bryant on Sunday, the only series of the weekend for either team.
 
SERIES SCORE
Wagner leads the all-time series with the Knights, 24-12, but since 2011, the Knights have won 11 of the last 16 meetings between the two teams. FDU swept last year's doubleheader at home, winning 9-8 and 5-2. England homered twice in the 9-8 victory, including a grand slam in the fifth inning that proved decisive in winning the game. Cervantes totaled 3 RBI and hit a home run in the 5-2 win, with Ports earning a complete-game victory as well. FDU has a 5-11 record when playing at Wagner, splitting the last eight games at the Wagner Softball Field.
 
SCOUTING WAGNER
The Seahawks (13-27, 3-9 NEC) have lost three straight games and are 5-11 in the month of April. Wagner currently sits in last place in the NEC standings after splitting with Sacred Heart and losing both games of its doubleheader with LIU Brooklyn this past weekend. The Seahawks fell 10-2 to Columbia in their most recent outing on Wednesday. Wagner's other two NEC wins this season came against Mount and Robert Morris. Senior Karen Prihoda leads the team with a .357 batting average and 41 runs scored, while junior Kaila Smith has hit eight home runs and driven in 39 runs to lead the team while hitting .309. Freshman Kayla Hooks leads the Wagner pitching staff with a 6.33 ERA in 79.2 innings pitched over 25 appearances, while freshman Eve Harvey has a team-high 31 strikeouts and is 5-4 in 21 appearances with a 6.39 ERA in 64.2 innings pitched.
 
UP NEXT
The Knights host Saint Francis U and Robert Morris for their final two home doubleheaders of the regular season next weekend. SFU first plays the Knights on Saturday, May 4, starting at noon in what will also serve as the Knights' Senior Day for their four senior players. FDU then ends the regular season with a battle against Robert Morris on Sunday, May 5, beginning at 2:30 p.m.