Baseball | 2/17/2017 12:16:00 PM

With the 2017 NJIT baseball season slated to start on Saturday, February 18 at High Point, broadcaster Matt Harmon sat down with fifth-year head coach Brian Guiliana to discuss the upcoming season.

The Highlanders will open a three-game series at High Point, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday, February 18. First pitch on both Saturday and Sunday is set for 1 p.m.

A LOOK AT NJIT
Twenty-five of the 28 Highlanders that recorded playing time from last season will return for the 2017 season with six incoming true freshman.

NJIT will look to an experienced roster to help improve upon its 17-36 record from last year.

In its first season as a member of the ASUN, NJIT experienced a few growing pains through the 2016 season.

The Highlanders held a 9-15 record entering conference-play last April after gaining wins against George Washington, Fordham and a series sweep of MEAC opponent Coppin State.

After taking two from USC Upstate, the Highlander squad would drop its next six ASUN series, finishing just three games behind the Spartans in eighth.

A LOOK AT HIGH POINT
High Point, who finished the 2016 season with 32 wins, one shy of the programs Division I single-season record set in 2014, returns 19 letterwinners, including six position starters and seven pitchers.

High Point was selected to finish first in the Big South Preseason Coaches' Poll, after advancing to the 2016 Big South Championship game and finishing with a 14-10 overall mark.

Sophomore All-American Andrew Gottfried will lead the High Point starting rotation while senior Jeremy Johnson and sophomore Nick Niarchos will anchor the Panther bullpen.