The Stetson baseball team departed DeLand on Wednesday morning for seven-day tour of the state of Florida that will include five games.
 
The Hatters (20-12) are scheduled to open the road trip tonight at FIU (14-21). The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from FIU Baseball Stadium in Miami, weather permitting.
 
It will be the second, and final, game of the 2021 season between the teams. Three earlier scheduled contests were canceled – two by weather and one by a Covid outbreak. Stetson won the previous game that was played against the Panthers, taking a 6-3 decision on March 23 in Miami.
 
There will be no video stream available for tonight's game. Stetson leads the all-time series against FIU 65-42 and has won the last five meetings, matching the longest win streak in the history of the series.
 
Stetson plans to use the game to get a number of pitchers work on the mound. Redshirt junior right-hander Nick Long (0-0, 1.93) will make his second start, but is only expected to work one or two innings.
 
FIU, which is coming off a split of a four-game series at Marshall last weekend, will also likely run a number of pitchers to the mound in the game. The Panthers will open with redshirt junior right-hander Jermaine Vanheyningen (0-2, 9.72). Following the game against Stetson, FIU has eight straight games scheduled against rival Florida Atlantic.
 
The Hatters are coming off losing two of three games to ASUN Conference foe North Florida over the weekend. Those losses allowed Florida Gulf Coast to move past Stetson into first place in the ASUN South Division. The Hatters and Eagles (21-12, 7-2) will square off for the second time this weekend at Swanson Stadium in Ft. Myers.
 
Stetson will close its tour of the sunshine state next Tuesday afternoon in Tallahassee when the Hatters face off against Florida State (18-14) for the only time this season. The Seminoles travel to face Georgia Tech in ACC this weekend before hosting the Hatters next week.
 
The last time Stetson faced Florida State was May 8, 2019, in DeLand. That day the Hatters Robbie Peto, Daniel Paret and Vlad Nunez combined to pitch a no-hitter against the Seminoles in a 1-0 Stetson victory.
 
The next home games for the Hatters will be against Jacksonville with the series opening on Friday night, April 30. That will be senior night for the Hatters when a total of 20 players – including 2020 seniors Peto and Jonathan Meola – will be honored prior to the game.
 
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.