Stetson will be looking to avenge a pair of losses at the hands of FIU from last year when the Hatters close out their season-opening 21 game home stand on Wednesday.
 
The game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start at Melching Field and will be the first of 12 games this season broadcast on ESPN3.
 
Since the series against FIU resumed in 2009 following an 11-year hiatus, Stetson has won seven of 11 meetings with the Panthers. FIU took a pair of games in DeLand last year, winning the opener 9-0 before taking a 10-6 win in the second game.
 
Stetson coach Steve Trimper is 2-6 in his career against FIU while FIU coach Mervyl Melendez is 14-33 in his career against the Hatters, with all but those two games last year coming from 2000-11 when he served as head coach at Bethune-Cookman.
 
Stetson (17-3) is expected to send senior left-hander Ben Onyshko (2-0, 1.29) to the mound for his first start of the year, but it will be his 17^th career start in his 59^th career appearance for the Hatters. He has been excellent out of the bull pen this year, allowing just two earned runs in 14 innings of work over nine appearances with only four walks and 17 strikeouts.
 
In his last start in 2017 Onyshko worked six innings against Bethune-Cookman, allowing just two unearned runs on four hits with a career-high nine strikeouts.
 
FIU (10-12) will counter with senior left-hander Andrew George (0-0, 7.88) who will be making his second start of the year and his fifth overall appearance. After playing his first two seasons at UNC Greensboro and Miami-Dade College, George appeared in just four games last year, starting three, before suffering a season-ending injury. In his last outing, a start against George Mason, George allowed four earned runs in 4.2 innings with five strikeouts, a walk and three wild pitches.
 
While it may sound strange to have a travel curfew in place for a mid-week game against an in-state foe, that is a relatively remote possibility tonight. The Hatters will be departing Melching Field at 3 a.m. Thursday morning to catch a flight to Baltimore for their three-game weekend series at Maryland.
 
The Hatters continue to have a presence in the national polls. Collegiate Baseball has Stetson ranked 13th this week while the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and USA Today Coaches Polls have the Hatters just outside the top 25 at 26th and 28th respectively.
 
Stetson saw its run of three-straight ASUN Pitcher of the Week awards come to an end this week, but still had a member of the pitching staff earn a weekly award from the league. Senior Brooks Wilson was named the ASUN Player of the Week for his combined efforts on the mound and at the plate last week. Wilson was previously named ASUN Pitcher of the Week in March of 2016 after pitching a two-hit shutout against The Citadel.
 
The Lakeland native is the 25th player in Stetson history to earn ASUN Player of the Week honors, but is the first in school history to have earned both a Player and Pitcher of the Week award in his career.
 
Wilson becomes the eighth player in ASUN history to have earned both awards in their careers. He joins  Corbin Olmstead (UNF), Gaither Bumgardner (USC Upstate), D.J. Johnson (Mercer), Nate Woods (Belmont), Dan Maier (Jacksonville), Shawn Barrett (Mercer) and Matt Parker (Mercer).
 
Wilson is making a case, one game and one day at a time, that he is the best all-around player in the ASUN and one of the best in the nation. He appeared on the mound in two games last week, recording eight strikeouts in four innings of work without allowing a run. He earned the win in Stetson's 11-inning victory over Rhode Island when, after starting the game at first base and pitching three shutout innings, he drew a one-out walk in the 11th, stole second and then scored on Andrew MacNeil's single.  He had hits in the 7th and 9th inning in the game. It was his first win of the year and the first stolen base of his career.
 
Wilson is second in the nation with eight saves and is one of just two pitchers with at least 18 innings of work this year to have not allowed a run, joining with Shane McClanahan of South Florida.
 
Another week and another dominating performance for junior Logan Gilbert, the preseason ASUN Pitcher of the Year. Gilbert worked seven strong innings, allowing just one run on two hits with 11 strikeouts in the Hatters' series opening win 10-1 win over Rhode Island. He did not allow a hit until two out in the 7th inning, having retired 18 of the previous 19 hitters with one walk (he was thrown out trying to steal). It was Gilbert's 14th consecutive victory over two seasons and improved his season record to 4-0 with a 2.67 ERA. He has four double-figure strikeouts in four of his five starts and has an even 50 for the year against just eight walks.
 
While junior Joey Gonzalez saw his season-opening streak of scoreless innings come to an end at 23, Wilson still has his streak alive. Wilson has worked 18 1/3 scoreless innings so far this year, having allowed just five hits with 27 strikeouts.
Stetson has had 13 different pitchers work so far this year. None has an ERA of more than 4.50. The Hatters have allowed 99 hits in 20 games for a .160 opponent batting average.
 
The Hatters are making a habit of scoring runs in bunches late in games. Through 20 games, Stetson has scored 31 runs in the 7th inning of games (1.5 per game) and 23 in the 8th inning.
 
As a team, the Hatters enter the week ranked first in the nation in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (4.92), in WHIP (0.94) and in team ERA (1.89). The Hatters are now second in shutouts with six (UCF has 7) and are fourth in K/9 (11.1). Offensively the Hatters are 7th in triples (9) and 29th in stolen bases (31).
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.