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NEWARK, NJ--NJIT, the number six seed in the 2018 ASUN Conference Baseball Tournament will open postseason play against top-seeded Stetson on Wednesday at 11am, hosted by University of North Florida at Harmon Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

This marks the first appearance for the Highlanders in postseason, since joining the ASUN Conference in 2015-16.

The action begins with No. 1 Stetson (41-11, 15-3 ASUN) vs. No. 6 NJIT (22-23, 9-12 ASUN) on Wednesday at 11am followed by #3 Jacksonville (37-17, 14-16 ASUN) vs. #5 Lipscomb (23-28, 9-12 ASUN) at 3pm.  The nightcap will feature #3 Kennesaw State (25-28, 11-10 ASUN) vs. No. 4 North Florida (25-26, 10-11 ASUN) at 7pm.

The winner of the Stetson/NJIT contest will play on Thursday, May 24 at 3pm while the loser between the two teams will play at 11am.

All games will have live in-game statistics and will be streamed on ESPN+, which can be found on NJITHighlanders.com homepage and NJIT Baseball homepage under upcoming events.

Scouting the Hatters
Stetson, riding the nation's longest active winning streak at 11, clinched the top seed in the ASUN and captured the ASUN Conference regular season title. 

The last time the Hatters lost came against the Highlanders, 8-1, on April 22 in Newark, as the Highlanders blasted a pair of home runs as part of the Highlander 11-hit attack.

Mike Spooner leads the Hatters offensively with a .287 batting average and .440 slugging percentage, registering 43 hits, 29 RBI, 12 doubles and three homeruns.

Joey Gonzalez paces Stetson with a 1.79 ERA and a 7-3 record in 12 appearances, three shutouts and one save. 

Logan Gilbert, who leads the nation in strikeouts with 134, is 9-1 in 93.0 innings pitched. 

Brooks Wilson the nation's save leader with 19, which is a new ASUN single season record for most saves, is 5-0 with a 1.76 ERA.  Wilson ranks second on the team with a .281 batting average with 43 hits, 23 RBI, 14 doubles and three homeruns.

Scouting the Highlanders
NJIT, under the direction of sixth-year head coach Brian Guiliana produced 22 overall wins, the most since 2015 when the Highlanders won 24.  Since Guiliana has taken over the program in 2013, NJIT has reached 20+ wins in four seasons, including nine wins in the ASUN, a program-best and the first postseason appearance in the ASUN.

The Highlanders are led by freshman Julio Marcano, who is hitting .342 on the season, and ranks third in the ASUN.  He is tied on the team for hits (40), second in doubles (13) and third in RBI (18).

Senior outfielder Jesse Uttendorfer ranks second on the team with a .320 batting average while leading the Highlanders in total bases (83), hits (55), RBI (27), doubles (16), triples (3) and has stolen 13-out-of-16 bases.  Uttendorfer is NJIT's all-time hit leader with 229 hits and his 43 career doubles and 101 RBI ranks third all-time in the NJIT Division I era.  His 54 stolen bases ranks first in the D1 era.

NJIT right-hander Sean Lubreski (4-5) will take the mound against Stetson on Wednesday.  Lubreski is one of four Highlanders with four wins on the season, boosting a 3.55 ERA in 71, innings pitched with 32 strikeouts. For his career, Lubreski has registered 14 wins, which ranks fourth all-time in the NJIT D1 era.

Relief pitcher Johnny Malatesta ranks second on the team with a 2.30 ERA, with 21 appearances, posting a 1-0 record with a team-best six saves, ranking fourth in the ASUN.