HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team returns to Northeast Conference play this weekend with doubleheaders against Mount St. Mary's and LIU Brooklyn this weekend.
 
The Knights first travel to Emmitsburg, Maryland, to take on Mount St. Mary's on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m., and they then return home to face LIU Brooklyn the following day at 2 p.m., in a series that was rescheduled from last weekend.
 
All games will be have live stats to follow, and the home contests on Sunday will be streamed live for free on NEC Front Row.
 
ENTERING THE WEEKEND
The Knights (8-23, 1-1 NEC) are coming off two close losses at Drexel on Thursday. The Knights first fell in a 3-2 game before suffering a 5-1 loss in the later game. FDU pitchers held Drexel's two best hitters who ranked in the top 20 in Division I in RBI, runs scored and batting average entering the games to a 2-for-12 day at the plate with no extra-base hits, no RBI and only one run scored. FDU, however, only had eight hits as a team, with senior Reanna Cervantes going 2-for-6 with a RBI single to lead the Knights offensively.
 
KNIGHT LEADERS
Junior Madison Emerson leads the Knights with a .347 batting average this season with 26 hits in 25 games along with a .430 on-base percentage, seven runs scored and eight RBI. Sophomore Rylie Schmeh leads the NEC with four triples this season and is hitting .290 with 10 runs scored, nine RBI and four doubles. Cervantes and freshman Courtney Mahoney each have five doubles this season, and Mahoney has also driven in nine runs. In the circle, sophomore Abby England leads the team with a 3.28 ERA in 42.2 innings pitched and is 3-3 this season. Junior Erica Johnson leads the Knights with 43 strikeouts in 66 innings pitched to go with a 3.50 ERA, and senior Baylee Ports is right behind her with 42 punchouts in 70 innings pitched while sporting a 3.80 ERA. Ports has tossed six complete games as well, including two shutouts.
 
CERVANTES RECORD WATCH
As part of driving in a run against Drexel on Thursday, Cervantes collected the 75th RBI of her career. She is one of three Knights to ever reach 75 career runs batted in, and needs five more RBI to move into second place on FDU's all-time list. Cervantes is in the top 10 of nearly every offensive category in program history, recently moving into the top 10 for games started (152) and at-bats (448) in a career as well. She is second in FDU history in doubles (35), triples (5) and slugging percentage (.520); third in hits (143), RBI (75), batting average (.319) and total bases (233); fourth in home runs (15), sixth in on-base percentage (.362) and ninth in runs scored (63).
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Knights are 15-19 when facing Mount St. Mary's since 2001 but are only 5-32 against LIU Brooklyn in that same span. Against Mount, the Knights have won seven of the last nine games, including a sweep of last season's doubleheader at home (5-0, 5-3). Emerson had four hits in last year's doubleheader to lead the Knights, and Ports pitched a three-hit shutout with seven strikeouts in the 5-0 victory. Against LIU, FDU has lost three straight games, dropping last year's games in Brooklyn, 8-0 and 7-2. The Knights last defeated LIU Brooklyn at home in the 2017 season, winning 4-3 thanks to a Serena Meehan game-winning RBI in the sixth inning. The Knights are 4-14 when playing LIU Brooklyn at home.
 
SCOUTING MOUNT ST. MARY'S
The Mountaineers (14-19, 1-3 NEC) had lost four straight games before defeating Cornell, 9-1, in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday. Three of the four losses were to NEC opponents, including one to Wagner and two to Sacred Heart last weekend. Junior Shelbee Holcomb leads the Mount with a .470 batting average this season in 30 games, while senior Lindsay Heinze has a team-best eight home runs and 25 runs scored while driving in 23 runs this season. Graduate senior Morgan Alisauckas leds the team with nine doubles and 25 RBI to go with three home runs, two triples and 20 runs scored as well. In the circle, senior Katie Olson has a 2.33 ERA in 45 innings pitched, while sophomore Amanda Berkley leads the team in innings pitched (79), strikeouts (37), and wins (6) while sporting a 3.72 ERA. Mount St. Mary's was selected seventh in the NEC Preseason Poll at the beginning of the season.
 
SCOUTING LIU BROOKLYN
The Blackbirds (18-12) have won three straight games and four of their last five overall entering the weekend, facing Sacred Heart in a doubleheader before playing the Knights on Sunday. Senior Schae Dickson leds the team with a .323 batting average, 20 runs scored, four doubles and 20 RBI while hitting two home runs as well. Freshman Samantha Garcia leads the team with four home runs this season. Freshman Elena Valenzuela leads the Blackbirds in the circle with a 2.23 ERA in 94 innings pitched with a 9-3 record and 43 strikeouts. LIU was tabbed as the second place team in the NEC Preseason Poll at the beginning of the year.
 
UP NEXT
The Knights continue their homestand after Sunday with doubleheaders against Coppin State and Iona. FDU first plays Coppin State on Tuesday starting at 2 p.m., followed by Iona on Thursday starting at 3 p.m. For Tuesday's games, FDU will be hosting a Scholar-Athlete Ice Cream Social and FDU Office of Student Affairs' "The Big Game" in conjunction with the games.