The Stetson Hatters will continue on their season-opening home stand this weekend, hosting Richmond from the Atlantic 10 Conference for a three-game series.
 
The games are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be available free on Hatter Vision and live stats will be available at StetsonStats.com.
 
The Spiders are the second Atlantic 10 Conference team to visit Melching Field this year. The Hatters took two of three games from George Washington two weeks ago. Stetson will square off with another A-10 team next week when the Rhode Island Rams visit.
 
The Hatters and Spiders (7-4) haven't met on the diamond since 1985. The only other games between the programs came during the 1974 season. Stetson won the two games in 1974 but Richmond won the most recent encounter.
 
After taking two-of-three games from GW, the Hatters are 47-13 all-time against teams from the A-10. Hatters coach Steve Trimper is 16-19-1 against Atlantic 10 teams, but has never coached against Richmond.
 
The Hatters swept through the Westin Lake Mary Invitational last weekend for the first time since 2011, improving to 33-18 in tournament history in the process. With the win over Wagner on Wednesday, the Hatters matched the 2011 team with a 10-1 start to the season. The only season in Stetson history that featured a better start was 2002. The Hatters started that season at 14-1 and 18-2.
 
The shutout victory on Wednesday was the fourth already this season for the Stetson pitching staff, which is just two behind the six the team posted during the entire 2017 campaign.
 
To get the win over the Seahawks the Hatters got outstanding contributions from a pair of true freshmen. Catcher Nick Cardieri delivered a two-run double for his first collegiate hit and first baseman Eric Foggo, after legging out an infield single prior to Cardieri's double, blasted a two-run home run. Juniors Mike Spooner (two-run double) and Jacob Koos (three-run double) also made major contributions to the win.
 
Junior RHP Joey Gonzalez continued his hot streak to start the season. Gonzalez pitched seven shutout innings, running his scoreless innings streak to 17.1 to start the year. Freshman Austin Wood and redshirt sophomore Jeremy Orbik both worked a scoreless inning to finish off the shutout.
 
Senior catcher Austin Hale got the night off on Wednesday, just his second of the year. On Tuesday he was named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List for the second consecutive year.
 
During the Hatters' current five game win streak, Stetson pitching has held opponents to six earned runs on 18 hits with 60 strikeouts in 45 innings of work. That is 1.20 ERA and an average of three hits allowed per game.
 
Stetson will stick with the same rotation this weekend with junior right-hander Logan Gilbert (2-0) slated to pitch the opener on Friday night. Gilbert is coming off an ASUN Pitcher of the Week performance last weekend in a 2-1 victory over Virginia Tech. He worked eight innings, allowing just two hits with 13 strikeouts.
 
Gilbert will face Richmond redshirt freshman right-hander Tim Miller (1-1) in the series opener. A native of Wayne, Pa., Miller made his first collegiate start on opening day against then 13^th ranked Louisville in Charleston, SC. He held the Cardinals to two runs on four hits over five innings of work, but took the loss in a 4-3 UL victory.
 
In his last outing, last week against Binghamton, Miller worked four shutout innings, allowing just one hit, but he walked four.
 
On Saturday the Hatters will send junior right-hander Jack Perkins (1-1) to the mound to square off against sophomore right-hander Aaron Winkler (2-0). Winkler, a native of Pound Ridge, NY, earned victories over George Mason (16-2) and Binghamton (3-2).
 
Sunday's game is scheduled to have Stetson sophomore left-hander Mitchell Senger (2-0) against Richmond senior right-hander Robbie Baker (1-0), who earned his first win of the year last week against Binghamton.
 
None of the three starters for Richmond has worked more than five innings in any game. The Spiders have relied on a bullpen that has worked 49.1 innings so far this year while posting a 3.46 ERA.
 
Offensively, the Spiders are hitting .304 as a team, led by graduate transfer Tyler Plantier, who is hitting .500 in four starts so far this season.
 
The Richmond roster also includes former Stetson player Sage Bruhl. The junior infielder is hitting .333 in 11 games with 10 starts so far 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.