The Hatters return home to Melching Field to host Florida International on Tuesday and Wednesday to open a six-game home stand that will include a three-game series against Fairfield this weekend and a single game against the University of Florida a week from today.

Stetson is back in action after taking two of three games at The Citadel over the weekend. The wins were number 2,000 and 2,001 all-time in program history, making Stetson the 66th program in Division I history to hit the 2,000 win milestone.

The Hatters and Panthers met just one time last year with Stetson taking an 8-5 victory in Miami. Since the series resumed following an 11-year hiatus, Stetson has won seven of nine meetings with the FIU.

First-year Stetson coach Steve Trimper is 2-4 in his career against FIU while first-year FIU coach Mervyl Melendez is 12-33 in his career against the Hatters, with all of those games coming from 2000-11 when he served as head coach at Bethune-Cookman. The two coaches have never squared off against each other.

The two wins on Saturday for Stetson snapped a five-game losing skid, which equaled the longest such streak during the 2016 season. The last time the Hatters lost more than five games in a row was 2014 when the team had a six-game skid. That streak included a 6-3 loss to Trimper's Maine squad.

Since the end of the 2010 season, when the ASUN abandoned regularly scheduled double-headers, the Hatters have played a total of 24 twin-bills during regular season play. The sweep of The Citadel this year was the eighth sweep for Stetson in those 24 double-headers. The Hatters have split the two games in a double-header 10 times and have been swept six times, with five of those six coming away from home.

In the series at The Citadel the Hatters used just five pitchers over the three games. Junior Brooks Wilson went the distance on Friday, while sophomore starter Jack Perkins went eight innings with a career-high 13 strikeouts in the opening game on Saturday. Mitchell Senger pitched the final inning in that game.

Logan Gilbert and Ryan Stark combined for the second game Saturday, with Stark earning his first career save. Stark (1-1, 2.01) gets the start tonight against FIU, his second of the year. His previous start came against Siena on Feb. 21. He went 7.1 shutout innings in that game, scattering six hits with five strikeouts and no walks.

Stark will be opposed by FIU freshman Nick MacDonald (1-0, 1.32), who earned a victory against Manhattan in his only previous start this year. The freshman went 7.2 innings against the Jaspers, allowing one run on just two hits while recording nine strikeouts.

The Stetson pitching staff enters play this week ranked second in the ASUN in opponent batting average at .232 and leads the league with a 176 strikeouts. In fact, the Hatters rank 16th in the nation in strikeouts per nine inning at 10.2.

USF, who the Hatters will see three times this spring, leads the nation with 11.7 K/9.

Stetson pitchers combined for 38 strikeouts in the three game at The Citadel last weekend. Stetson has posted double-figure Ks 10 times in 17 games this year.

While the Hatters have struck out more hitters than any other team in the ASUN, Stetson has also walked more opposing hitters than any other team in the ASUN. Stetson has allowed a total of 81 walks, and average of 4.7 per nine innings. Defense has also been an issue for the Hatters. Stetson has the lowest fielding percentage in the ASUN at .957 and the 27 errors for the Hatters is tied for second in the league.

FIU just finished a stretch of nine games in nine days by going 7-2 and winning each of the three series the Panthers played. FIU took three of four from Manhattan, swept a two-game series from cross-town rival Miami and took two of three games from Charleston Southern.

Junior catcher JC Escarra and freshman right fielder Adam Sevario led the way for FIU over the last week. Escarra was 7-for-15 with two home runs and eight RBI during the past week. Sevario, who leads the team with a .395 average, went 9-for-19.

Senior right-hander Robert Garcia made his first start on the mound count last week, pitching a one-hitter in a 12-1 win over Miami on Tuesday. Garcia pitched a career-high seven innings and struck out a career-high nine batters against the Hurricanes.

The Hatters and Panthers will conclude their two-game series on Wednesday night with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.