The end of any regular season is a time of reflection, and that will be the case this weekend when the No. 13 Stetson baseball team hosts USC Upstate in a three-game series at Melching Field.
 
Games in the series are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday. All three games are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats available at Stetsonstats.com.
 
For four members of the Stetson team, it will be an emotional time as the quartet plays its final regular season home games. Those seniors – Austin Hale, Brooks Wilson, Ben Onyshko and Nico Torino – have combined to appear in a total of 292 games on the field and another 144 on the mound. Offensively, the trio of Hale, Wilson and Torino have hit 14 home runs with 114 RBI while Wilson and Onyshko have combined for 30 wins, 20 saves and 460 strikeouts on the mound.
 
The seniors will be honored on Saturday, prior to the season finale. But, before then, there is business to attend to.

Stetson will put a 10-game win streak, the longest active streak in the nation, on the line against a Spartan team that is playing for pride. The Hatters (40-11) have already wrapped up the top spot in next week's ASUN Tournament and have climbed to a season-high No. 7 in the most recent college baseball RPI. Upstate (23-27-1) needs a trio of highly unlikely results this weekend to find its way to next weeks' ASUN Tournament. The Spartans are 5-13 in league play this year.
 
The Hatters lead the all-time series against USC Upstate 20-12 and have won five of the last six meetings, including a sweep at Melching Field in 2016.
 
Two of the three expected Upstate starters this weekend have made multiple appearances against Stetson. Thursday starter Blake Whitney is 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in two starts while Saturday starter Kevin Hickey is 0-2 with a 12.91 ERA.
 
Offensively, senior catcher Austin Hale has had some of the best games of his career against the Spartans. Last year he was 8-for-13 at the plate in the series in Spartanburg with five doubles, six runs scored and three RBI. He was named ASUN Player of the Week for his performance in that series. In his career he has hit .500 (9-18) with eight runs scored against Upstate.
 
Other Hatters with good career numbers against the Spartans includes Jacob Koos (.409, 5 runs, 3 RBI), Mike Spooner (.312, 3 runs, 6 RBI, 2 HR), Jack Gonzalez (.333, 4 runs, 2 RBI) and Wilson (.428. double, 4 RBI).
 
The Stetson pitching staff also has a solid history in games against USC Upstate. Thursday starter Jack Perkins has the best mark with a 2-0 career record and a 0.93 ERA against the Spartans in two outings. Both Logan Gilbert (1-0), who will start on Friday, and Onyshko (1-0) have two career outings against Upstate. Gilbert has a 1.74 ERA and Onyshko has a 1.42 mark. has made three career starts against the Spartans, posting a 1-2 record with a 6.75 ERA.
 
Stetson is ranked in all five national polls again this week after joining them last week for the first time since the 2011 season. The Hatters are ranked highest by D1Baseball.com at No. 13. The other polls have Stetson ranked 20 (Baseball America), 15 (NCBWA), 17 (USA Today) and 23 (Collegiate Baseball).

During the 10-game win streak the Stetson pitching staff has dominated. The Hatters have allowed just 2.4 runs per game with a 2.15 ERA while holding opponents to a .202 batting average with just nine extra-base hits. In the most recent series against FGCU the Stetson pitchers held the Eagles to a .206 average with a 2.33 ERA. The Hatters recorded 32 strikeouts in that series, running the total over the last 10 games to 104.

With 534 strikeouts this season, the Hatters need just five more to break the school record for the third consecutive year. In 2016 the Stetson staff set the mark with 485 Ks, a number that was bested last year with 538.

This is the first time the Hatters have hit 40 wins in a season since 2011 and the 10th time in program history with 40 or more wins in a season. Other 40+ win seasons were: 1982 (40), 1984 (46), 1996 (42), 2000 (48), 2001 (43), 2002 (42), 2003 (41), 2007 (42) and 2011 (43).

Gilbert set a new Stetson record for strikeouts in a season on Friday. He currently has 134 Ks on the year, two better than the former school record of 132 set by Lenny DiNardo in 2000. The former Hatter, and Boston Red Sox World Series champion, gave Gilbert a call to congratulate him following the Hatters' win over FGCU.

Gilbert's strikeouts this year put him on pace to perhaps have the 2nd greatest strikeout season in ASUN history. With at least three starts remaining this spring, Gilbert needs just 25 Ks to move into second on the ASUN season strikeout list. He would need a deep run in the post-season to approach the league record of 220 Ks set by Evan Thomas of FIU in 1996.

The last player to record 200 strikeouts in a season was Trevor Bauer of UCLA with 203 in 2011. The NCAA record for strikeouts in a season is 234 by Derek Tatsuno of Hawai'i in 1979.

Wilson's next save will move him in to a tie, with 13 other players, for 12th on the NCAA single-season saves list. He will become the 25th player in NCAA history with 20 saves in a season. Wilson is 2-0 this year with six saves in nine ASUN pitching appearances while slugging .477 with a team-high 15 RBI in league play.

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.