NEWARK, N.J. – Looking to snap a season-high six-game skid, FGCU (28-16, 4-8 ASUN) heads to Newark, N.J., to take on NJIT (4-31, 0-12 ASUN) in a three-game series this weekend. The series opener at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m., followed by game two Saturday at 1 p.m. and the finale Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
FGCU will stick with its starting rotation as Kutter Crawford (5-1, 1.68) will get the nod Friday night followed by Josh Dye (6-2, 2.90) Saturday and Garrett Anderson (3-1, 3.44) Sunday. Opposite the Eagles, NJIT will send left hander Brian Sondergard (0-5, 8.90) to the mound Friday night with right handers Brett Lubreski (0-2, 4.80) and Tyler Stafflinger (1-4, 4.13) making the starts Saturday and Sunday.

Fan can follow all three games this weekend on Sidearm Stats, and a silent stream for the series opener and series finale will be available on Stretch Internet.
 
SERIES HISTORY
FGCU holds a 3-0 advantage against NJIT in the Highlanders' second season as a member of the ASUN. In a three-game series contested at Swanson Stadium last season, FGCU won the series opener, 10-1, before turning around the following two days and winning a pair of one-run ballgames, 6-5 and 4-3.

COACHING MATCHUP
FGCU founding head coach Dave Tollett has posted a 518-312-3 all-time record in his 15th season as the Eagles' skipper. Tollett, who secured his 500th win by defeating UNC Wilmington, 10-1, on Mar. 5, has guided the Eagles to four ASUN Regular Season Championships and has earned an equal amount of ASUN Coach of the Year awards. This weekend, Tollett matches up with fifth-year NJIT head coach Brian Guiliana, who has led the program to an 85-149-1 record during his tenure.
 
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
NJIT enters the weekend with a 4-31 overall record and 0-12 mark in conference play. The Highlanders haven't won an ASUN game since taking two from USC Upstate on Apr. 1-2, 2016. NJIT's four wins this season have come against High Point, Chicago State, James Madison and St. Peter's, and the Highlanders are 1-18 since Mar. 18.
 
Offensively, NJIT is hitting a league-worst .248 overall but ranks ahead of the Eagles with a .251 average in conference play. Sophomore outfielder Michael Anastasia leads the team and ranks seventh in the conference with a .342 average. He is tied with Justin Etts for the team lead with 23 RBI, while Evan Petronico and Bryan Haberstroh lead the team with three home runs apiece.
 
On the mound, the Highlanders also rank last in the ASUN with a 7.86 staff ERA and 8.83 ERA in conference games. Junior right hander John Saviano has been the team's most used arm out of the bullpen with 15 relief appearances. He has struck out 33 batters in 30.1 innings pitched.

TALE OF TWO MONTHS
After starting the season with a program-best record of 24-3, FGCU has dropped at least five straight games on two separate occasions during April and is 4-13 during the month. The Eagles entered April with a .288 team average and 2.81 ERA but are hitting .238 with a 5.60 staff ERA since the start of the month. FGCU's impressive run during March came during its toughest stretch of games this season. With notable wins against #1 FSU and #2 Florida, the Eagles capped off a 13-game stretch against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams with an 11-2 record. With the win against the Seminoles, the Green and Blue not only took down its first top-ranked opponent in program history, but also finished off a 10-game stretch against #1 or #2 seeds from last year's tournament at 9-1.
 
MIDSEASON AWARDS
With the regular season past its midway point, Tollett was named the Perfect Game Midseason Coach of the Year, while Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla./Indian River State/Okeechobee HS) earned Midseason All-American honors, it was announced Thursday, Apr. 6.

Just past the season's midway point, Tollett and the Eagles had not only surpassed its win total from last year, but had also already checked off a laundry list of program firsts. The team's 24-3 record to start the season far exceeded the program's previous Division I record and also surpassed FGCU's all-time best mark of 23-3 set in 2005.
 
Crawford was not only one of 10 starting pitchers across the country to be recognized as a Midseason All-American, but was also the lone member of the ASUN to be recognized and one of two non-Power Five pitchers on the list.
 
BATTLE FOR STATE SUPREMACY
FGCU is 5-2 in games versus Florida, FSU and Miami this season with one more road game against the Hurricanes. The Eagles entered the week of Apr. 3 a perfect 4-0 against the 'Big Three' opponents but dropped a pair of midweek games at FSU by one run. After also taking down in-state rival FAU at the end of February, the Eagles swept the then #2 Gators in a pair of midweek games on Mar. 7 and 8 before turning around the following week and defeating then #1 FSU. Additionally, after defeating cross-state rival Miami, 3-0, on Mar. 29, FGCU has now defeated the Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes in the same season for the first time in program history. FGCU also took down Miami in the second of three meetings this season and claimed the season series against the Hurricanes for the first time in program history.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
After starting the season 24-3, FGCU appeared as high as #9 in the country in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, which marked the highest ranking ever achieved by any FGCU athletics program. Additionally, the Eagles were tabbed a consensus top-15 program as the team was ranked #14 or higher in all six nationally-recognized polls.

500-WIN CLUB…AND COUNTING
Tollett joined the illustrious 500-win club as FGCU capped off its weekend sweep at UNC Wilmington with a 10-1 win on Mar. 5. With 28 wins this season, Tollett has now pushed his win total to 518. He has recorded 30 or more wins in 11 of his 14 seasons, including a program record 41 wins in 2006 and has led the Eagles to a winning mark in conference play in eight of nine seasons in the ASUN. Tollett joined Kennesaw State's Mike Sansing and UNF's Smoke Laval as the only active head coaches in the league with 500 or more wins, and the trio was recently joined by Lipscomb's Jeff Forehand.
 
NCAA ACTIVE LEADER
In his final season with the Green and Blue, designated hitter Nick Rivera (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) continues to not only climb FGCU's all-time records, but also ranks among the top-five in active NCAA players in a number of offensive categories. Rivera leads the nation in career games played (231), doubles (67), RBI (192), total bases (440) and walks (156). Additionally, Rivera ranks fourth in at-bats (830) and sixth in hits (259).

ASUN WEEKLY HONORS
After pitching 7.0 shutout innings and leading FGCU to its first home win against Miami in program history on Mar. 29, Mario Leon (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) was named the ASUN Baseball Pitcher of the Week. The award not only marked the first of the career for Leon, but was also the sixth total award and third Pitcher of the Week honor for the Green and Blue. The three Pitcher of the Week awards is the most since former Eagle Michael Murray took home the honor on four occasions during the 2014 season. A complete list of FGCU's weekly award winners from this season is included below.
 

Player of the Week	Pitcher of the Week
Richie Garcia (Feb. 20)	Kutter Crawford (Mar. 6)
Matt Reardon (Mar. 13)	Peyton Gray (Mar. 13)
Nick Rivera (Mar. 20)	Mario Leon (Apr. 3)

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE
Since joining the ASUN in 2008, FGCU has not only won more regular season conference championships (four) than any other member of the ASUN, but has also won more overall and league games than any other conference opponent. The following is list of overall and conference records for teams that have competed in the ASUN since 2008.
 

No.	School	Overall	ASUN
1.	FGCU (2008-present)	326-228-1	166-91 (.646)
2.	UNF (2008-present)	315-235	142-110 (.563)
3.	Kennesaw State (2008-present)	289-266	150-100 (.600)
4.	Stetson (2008-present)	288-288	140-115 (.549)
5.	Lipscomb (2008-present)	273-287	130-124 (.512)
6.	Jacksonville (2008-present)	268-282	129-124 (.510)
7.	Mercer (2008-14)	243-156	115-82 (.584)
8.	USC Upstate (2008-present)	213-320	85-165 (.340)
9.	ETSU (2008-14)	197-201	88-110 (.444)
10.	Belmont (2008-12)	158-139	78-68 (.534)
11.	Campbell (2008-11)	93-125	31-85 (.267)
12.	NKU (2013-15)	39-118	14-61 (.187)
13.	Gardner-Webb (2008)	29-30	15-18 (.455)
14.	NJIT (2016-present)	21-67	2-30 (.063)

 
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Along with his aforementioned NCAA active ranks, Rivera has already made his mark in FGCU program history as he not only holds the career record for games played, doubles, RBI and total bases, but also ranks in the top-10 in program history in a number of other offensive categories. The Cape Coral native ranks first in games started (225), third in home runs (36), tied for fourth in hits and sixth in runs scored (155).

CAREER GAMES PLAYED

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	231
2.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	216
3.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	214

CAREER GAMES STARTED

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	226
2.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	216
3.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	212

CAREER RBI

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	192
2.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	180
	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	180

CAREER DOUBLES

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	67
2.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	54
3.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	47
	Jason Louwsma (2005-06)	47
	Colton Bottomley (2013-16)	47

CAREER TOTAL BASES

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	440
2.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	418
	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	418

CAREER HOME RUNS

1.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	41
2.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	40
3.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	36

CAREER HITS

1.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	316
2.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	311
3.	Jake Noll (2013-16)	267
4.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	259
	Stephen Wickens (2008-11)	259

CAREER RUNS SCORED

1.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	237
2.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	202
3.	Stephen Wickens (2008-11)	178
4.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	158
5.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	156
6.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	155

Earlier this season, senior pitcher Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS) broke the program's career and single-season saves record with an ASUN-best 10 saves on the season and also set the career appearances mark. He is joined by Crawford, Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS), Dye (DeLand, Fla./DeLand HS) and Kenton Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Eastern Florida State/Viera HS), who also make their way up a number of career lists.
 
CAREER SAVES

1.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	17
2.	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	14
3.	Brady Anderson (2012-16)	11
4.	Jack Wagoner (2010-11)	9
	Harrison Cooney (2011-13)	9
6.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	8

 
SINGLE SEASON SAVES

1.	Sterling Koerner (2017)	10
2.	Jack Wagoner (2010)	9
3.	Brady Anderson (2014)	7

 
CAREER APPEARANCES

1.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	90
2.	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	86
3.	RJ Brown (2010-13)	82
4.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	78

 
LOWEST ERA (MIN. 40 IP)

1.	Kutter Crawford (2017)	1.68
2.	Chris Sale (2008-10)	2.52
3.	Richard Bleier (2006-08)	2.70

 
CAREER FEWEST WALKS PER 9.0 IP (MIN 40 IP)

1.	Josh Dye (2015-present)	1.05
2.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	1.11
3.	Jason Short (2003-05)	1.42
4.	Michael Murray (2013-15)	1.46
5.	Jordan Desguin (2015)	1.60
6.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	1.69

 
MOST STRIKEOUTS PER 9.0 IP (MIN 40 IP)

1.	Chris Sale (2008-10)	11.53
2.	Brandon Bixler (2011-13)	10.91
3.	Kutter Crawford (2017)	10.90
4.	Kenton Hering (2016-present)	10.35

 
LOWEST OPPONENT BATTING AVERAGE (MIN 40 IP)

1.	Kutter Crawford (2017)	.188
2.	Brandon Bixler (2011-13)	.201
3.	Chris Cahil (2003-04)	.207
4.	Jordan Desguin (2015)	.216
5.	Clint Knoblauch (2012-16)	.232
6.	Jack English (2012-15)	.234
7.	Kenton Hering (2016-present)	.235

 
CAREER GAMES FINISHED

1.	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	51
2.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	49
3.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	31

 
TICKETS
Single game tickets for the remainder of the 2017 FGCU baseball season are on sale. Single game tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youth (12 and under), military and groups. For questions or more information, please contact the FGCU Ticket Office at 239-590-7145.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For constant, news, photos, videos and updates you can follow the baseball team on Twitter @FGCU_Baseball, Instagram @FGCU_Baseball or on Facebook: Facebook.com/FGCUBaseball. You can also find FGCU athletics on YouTube by visiting YouTube.com/FGCUEagles.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 15 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 518-312-3 record (.622) as the only head coach in the program's history. He is a four-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to four ASUN Regular Season Championships. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets and has coached 42 All-Conference selections, 27 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 15 current minor leaguers, four ASUN Pitchers of the Year, four All-Americans, two ASUN Players of the Year, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one five-time MLB All-Star.

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.