The Stetson baseball teams will continue with its 12-game home stand this weekend when the Hatters host Florida A&M for a three-game series at Melching Field.
 
Friday's series opener between the teams will be special for two reasons. First, it will be Military Appreciation night and 97-year-old World War II veteran John Frazier will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
 
Second, the game will mark the season debut for redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Nick Durgin. The Hatters' only preseason All-ASUN selection has not appeared on the mound for the Hatters since last April 30 when he threw a complete-game, two-hit, shutout against Jacksonville.
 
Frazier, a native of Louisville, Ky., served in the U.S. Navy at the end of World War II as a radio and communications officer. He was stationed in Australia and was charged with relaying encrypted messages from the Pentagon to the Pacific Fleet. He moved to DeLand in 2009 to be closer to his family which includes his three children, four grandchildren and 24 great grandkids.
 
Durgin posted a 6-2 record in 10 starts last spring with a 2.61 ERA. His start to the season was delayed to make sure he was fully recovered from the injury that cut his season short last spring.
 
Following Durgin's start on Friday, the Hatters are expected to have sophomore left-hander Jonathan Gonzalez (1-2, 5.40) on the hill for Saturday's game followed by sophomore right-hander Cole Stallings (2-0, 2.08) on Sunday.
 
The Hatters lead the all-time series against Florida A&M 42-5 and has won nine consecutive games from the Rattlers going back to the 2004 season. In fact, Stetson has won 18 of the last 19 games against FAMU going back to 1998. The series between Stetson and FAMU goes back to the 1975 season. The Hatters won the first 16 meetings between the programs before FAMU got its first win in 1985.
 
The teams played four times last spring, with the Hatters taking all four games, but they were all competitive. Stetson posted wins by scores of 6-3, 1-0, 3-1 and 6-0.
 
As the scores indicate, there was not much offense in the series last year for either team. The Hatters hit .225 while the Rattlers managed to hit just .167.
 
DeFabbia made his collegiate debut on the mound against FAMU last year in the first game of the Saturday double-header and threw a complete game shutout.  He was the first Stetson freshman since 2004 to throw a shutout and was the first Stetson pitcher since 2015 to throw a shutout in his first start. He earned ASUN Pitcher of the Week honors for his performance that day.
 
FAMU comes into the series this weekend with a 6-8 record on the year after falling at UCF on Wednesday night. The Rattlers opened the season by winning two of three games in the Andre Dawson Classic in New Orleans. They also swept a three-game non-conference series against Grambling State in Atlanta and took a single win against Ball State in a four-game series.
 
The Hatters are coming off consecutive 13-4 victories over Sacred Heart. The wins were accomplished in different ways. In the Sunday game, Stetson swiped 11 bases, the most in a game for the Hatters this century. That combined with 13 hits, 10 of which were singles, and 11 walks by Sacred Heart pitchers, led to a season-high 13 runs. On Tuesday, the Hatters had a nine-run first inning and piled up a season-high 15 hits.
 
Stetson has already stolen 28 bases in just 12 games this year, which is just seven steals shy of the total bags from the 2021 season. The fast start has the Hatters on pace to steal more than 100 bases in a season for the first time since 1989 (110).
The program record for stolen bases in a season was set in 1975 with an incredible 255 steals. Mike Wolfe set the individual record for steals that year with 76.
 
DeFabbia has only made one appearance on the mound this year, but he is leading the Hatters with a .389 batting average in 11 games while playing in the outfield. Senior Cameron Hill has also continued his hot start to the year, batting .364 while leading the team in both hits (16) and runs (16) while also leading the charge on the bases by taking nine bags in nine attempts.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS. Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.