SCHEDULE UPDATE: (Feb. 16) Saturday's baseball doubleheader has been canceled due to inclement weather.

NCCU Sports Network Broadcast Link (Game Central)

DURHAM, N.C. (NCCUEaglePride.com) – The North Carolina Central University baseball program will begin its second season under the tutelage of head coach Jim Koerner as the Eagles host the Highlanders of New Jersey Institute of Technology in a four-game series consisting of back-to-back doubleheaders beginning on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 1:00 p.m. at the Durham Athletic Park.  Admission is free.
 
This is the first of 19 consecutive games at home for the Eagles to begin the season.  In fact, the maroon and gray will play 24 of its first 27 games inside the friendly confines of the DAP.
 
NJIT is coming of a 25-win campaign in 2012 going 16-12 in the Great West Conference as the Highlanders return five of the top six hitters in the lineup led by junior DJ Roche who batted .329 with 10 doubles, two homers, and 24 RBI.  The Highlanders had eight student-athletes record 20 RBI or more last season. 
 
On the other hand, NCCU returns nearly every starter from last year and brings in a host of newcomers as senior Luis Diaz (Geneva, N.Y.) and junior Troy Marrow (Lutherville, Md.) both were named to the Preseason All-MEAC squad.
 
Day one of the 2013 campaign will see Koerner send two veterans to the hill beginning with senior lefty Michael Romano (Spotsylvania, Va.) was a large bright spot for the Eagles down the stretch last year and finished third on the team with a 5.24 ERA going 3-3 in seven starts.  Romano will battle NJIT’s Tripp Davis, as the senior lefty had a team-low ERA of 3.29 piling up a 5-2 record in 14 starts with 82 strikeouts and only 30 walks.
 
The second game on Saturday will see senior righty Glenn Frye (Lillington, N.C.) on the hill against senior Mark Leiter Jr.  The righty for NJIT is the son of Mark Leiter who spent 11 seasons in the majors and his uncle Al Leiter, also a retired major league pitcher pitched 19 years in the big leagues.  Leiter was second on the team with a 3.56 ERA with a team-high 95 strikeouts for the Highlanders.  On the other hand, Frye wasn’t too shabby himself, finishing No. 1 on the team with a 4.72 ERA while going 4-6 on the year, mowing down 56 batters in his junior season.  Frye is on his way to becoming the first Eagle in the modern day history to record 200 strikeouts needing just 49 to record that feat.  Game two will begin approximately 30 minutes after the first game.
 
Sunday’s twinbill action will see NCCU send out two newcomers to the hill as junior transfer Jordan Quinn (Goldsboro, N.C.) will see his first action in a maroon and gray uniform.  NJIT will start sophomore Bill VanMeerbeke who made seven starts and threw 59 innings last year finishing with a 2-5 record.  First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m.
 
The series finale pits two newcomers making their debuts as junior transfer Terry McNabb (Davidson, Sask.) will go up against NJIT’s freshman hurler Ian Bentley in a righty-against-lefty matchup.  That contest will begin approximately 30 minutes after the first game of the day.

Last year, the Highlanders took two of three games from the Eagles, as Koerner earned his first career win as a Division I head coach in game one in an 8-5 decision, but the most dramatic portion of the weekend came on Sunday when NCCU nearly came back from a double-digit deficit to win, dropping the contest 17-15.
 
The NCCU Sports Network will have wall-to-wall coverage of the weekend four-game set as Kyle Serba will fill-in for play-by-play voice Chris Hooks to call the action in the series.  The Champps Pregame Show will air five minutes before first pitch.  Fans can follow the contest live on twitter by following @NCCUAthletics and by using the hashtag #NCCUBaseball.
 
Stay up-to-date with North Carolina Central University Athletics by flying over to www.NCCUEaglePride.com, the official website of NCCU Athletics.