The Hatters and Bethune-Cookman Wildcats will once again renew their Volusia County rivalry this weekend with three games at Melching Field.

The series, which starts Thursday night, will include 6:30 p.m. starts each night. All three games will be broadcast on Hatter Vision.

The rivalry, which first started in 1982, has been played every year since 1992, making this the 27th consecutive season. The games this year come with a twist because this is the first time the programs have met in a three-game weekend series.

The series between Stetson and Bethune-Cookman has been very close during this decade, with the Hatters holding to a slim 11-9 series lead over the last eight years.

Stetson has adjusted its rotation for the weekend, with junior right-hander Jack Perkins (2-2, 3.82) making the start in the series opener on Friday night. Perkins is coming off a short outing last Saturday against Maryland, having worked just 4.1 innings against the Terrapins in a 6-1 Stetson loss.

Perkins was originally scheduled to face Wildcats ace Anthony Maldonado (2-1, 4.98), but Bethune-Cookman made a late change to their plans, moving him back to Friday where he will square off against junior Logan Gilbert (5-0, 2.57).

Instead, the Wildcats will send freshman right-hander Jeremy Adams (1-2, 9.88) to the mound for the opener. It will be the Osceola High School product's fourth start of the year. He has allowed 15 earned run in 12.1 innings of work so far this year.

Saturday's series finale will pit Stetson sophomore left-hander Mitchell Senger (3-1, 1.70) against junior Tyler Krull (1-1, 4.26).

Stetson bounced back from its first series loss of the season on Tuesday night with a 5-3 victory over South Florida in Tampa. Junior Joey Gonzalez improved to 6-1 on the year, working into the eighth inning in the win, allowing just one earned run. With six wins, Gonzalez broke a tie for the national lead in that category with teammate Logan Gilbert, who is second (tied with 30 other players) in the NCAA with five wins this year.

The nine strikeouts on Tuesday for Gonzalez were a season and career-high. His previous career high for strikeouts in a game came against Florida on March 21, 2017.

The win on Tuesday not only gave the Hatters 20 victories on the season, the earliest Stetson has reached that mark since 2011, but also gave coach Steve Trimper a nice birthday present.

Sophomore shortstop Jorge Arenas hit third in the batting order for the second time this season and delivered with two hits and three RBI in the victory. He also hit third in the win over FIU, scoring a run and driving in another while drawing a pair of walks.

Since starting the season with the same batting order in the first two games, Stetson has employed a different batting order in the last 24 consecutive games. The Hatters have employed 18 different position lineups in 25 games this year with Arenas as the only Hatter who has started every game, all at shortstop.

The Stetson bullpen is well rested going into the weekend, The Hatters' top two relievers, left-hander Ben Onyshko and right-handed closer Brooks Wilson did not see action on the mound in the series at Maryland. Wilson was the only reliever who got to work on Tuesday, pitching two innings for his 10th save. He is now just wo saves shy of tying for fifth on Stetson's single-season list. The Stetson season record for saves is 18, set by Robbie Powell during the 2012 campaign.

The Wildcats come into the series against Stetson having won a season-best three straight games, including a 7-6 mid-week victory over Florida Atlantic. BCU also owns wins over Mercer, Florida Gulf Coast and North Florida this year.

Against FAU on Tuesday, the Wildcats scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to walk-off with a 7-6 win. That comes on the heels of a walk-off win over North Carolina A&T on Sunday, winning 4-3 in 12 innings.

The Wildcats have been notoriously slow starters this year. In 15 of the 25 games BCU has played this year their opponents have scored in the first inning, for a total of 37 runs. In fact, BCU starters have allowed a total of 82 runs to score in the first three innings of games, more than half the total allowed by the Wildcats this year.

The BCU pitching staff has been its own worst enemy in games this year. The Wildcats have hit 41 batters to go with 78 walks and have allowed 27 home runs. BCU has also allowed 31 stolen bases in 40 attempts this year.

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.