Mount St. Mary's (7-8, 2-2 NEC) vs. Quinnipiac (7-6, 3-1 NEC)
Friday, March 25, 12 pm (DH--9 inning game followed by 7-inning game)
Saturday, March 26, 12 pm (DH--7-inning game followed by 9-inning)
E.T Straw Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.

MOUNT UPDATE: Mount St. Mary's split its four-game series at Wagner to open Northeast Conference play this past weekend. The Mountaineers dropped the opening two games of the series before rebounding with 11-4 and 6-3 victories in the final two games. Zach Helman went 8-for-12 in the four-game series to pace the Mount offense. Max Brittenham tossed a complete game in the Mount's 6-3 win over Wagner on Sunday.

ABOUT THE BOBCATS...Quinnipiac enters this weekend 7-6 overall and 3-1 in the Northeast Conference. The Bobcats lost to Army, 12-0, on Tuesday in a mid-week matchup. Quinnipiac took three of four from Fairleigh Dickinson last weekend to start conference play. Mickey Amanti leads the Bobcats with a .375 average while Mike Bartlett and Ben Farina are each hitting at a .304 clip. Anthony Cinelli (2-0, 0.64 ERA) and Derek Lamaccia (2-1, 1.00 ERA) pace a pitching staff that has a team ERA of 4.92.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES...Quinnipiac holds a 20-18 lead in the all-time series. The Mount, however, has won 10 of the past 12 meetings between the two teams. Last year, Mount St. Mary's took three of four at Quinnipiac, including Kent Worthington's no hitter in an 18-0 victory in the final game of the four-game set.

LAST YEAR'S MEETINGS: The Mount took three of four games against Quinnipiac last season. The Bobcats cruised to a 9-1 win in the opening game of the four-game set, but the Mount rebounded to win the final three games of the series. Kent Worthington had the highlight by tossing a no-hitter in the Mount's 18-0 win in the final game of the series. It was the Mount's first no-hitter since 1989. The Mount swept the Saturday doubleheader, rallying for a 5-2 win in nine innings in the opening game before recording an 8-3 win in game two. Josh Winter's two-run home run in the seventh forced extra innings while Winter's RBI single in the ninth ignited a three-run rally in the ninth to secure the victory.

CAREER NUMBERS vs. THE BOBCATS: Senior right-hander Max Brittenham is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in four career appearances against the Bobcats. He has allowed five runs in 13.1 innings of work...Shane Eyler has a .342 average (13-for-38) with four home runs and 10 RBI in 12 career games against Quinnipiac...Tommy Flynn is hitting .375 (9-for-24) with eight runs scored in 10 games against QU...Kyle Kane is 14-for-38 (.368) with two home runs and nine RBI against the Bobcats...Josh Winter has a .452 career average against Quinnipiac with two home runs and 12 RBI in eight games.

HELMAN NAMED NEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Zach Helman was named the Northeast Conference's Player of the Week on Monday. Helman hit .632 in helping the Mount to a 4-2 record last week. The senior third baseman was 8-for-12 (.667) at the plate in the Mount's four-game series at Wagner. He was 4-for-4 in the Mount's 11-4 win in the third game against the Seahawks. Helman was 4-for-7 in the Mount's doubleheader sweep of UMES earlier in the week.

BREAK OUT THE BATS: The Mountaineers are hitting .370 as a team over the past six games, averaging 8.8 runs per game over that stretch. Over the first nine games of the season, the Mount was hitting .248 as a team, averaging just 3.8 runs per contest. The Mount's hot streak at the plate has lifted the team's average to .300 this season.

ON THE BASEPATHS: The Mount has been aggressive on the base paths this season, averaging 2.8 steal attempts per game this year. Last year, the Mount averaged 1.45 steals per game. The Mount has 24 stolen bases in 15 games this year after tallying 51 steals in 51 games all of last year. Tommy Flynn leads the team with seven steals while Brandon Scott and Michael Foster each have four. Flynn now has 28 career steals at the Mount, good for a tie for fifth on the all-time list.

HOME, SWEET, HOME (FINALLY!): The Mount will play its first home games of the season with its four-game series with Quinnipiac. The Mount opened the year with 15 consecutive games away from the friendly confines of E.T. Straw Family Stadium. The Quinnipiac series starts a 10-game homestand for the Mountaineers that also includes a four-game series with Fairleigh Dickinson along with single games versus UMBC and Navy.

CLOSE CALLS: Six of the Mount's 15 games this season have been decided by one run with the Mount posting a 3-3 record in those contests. The Mount owns one-run wins against Miami (Ohio) (3-2, 10 innings), Central Florida (2-1) and Maryland-Eastern Shore (8-7, 10 innings).

START OF NEC PLAY: The Mount is in its 22^nd season of play in the Northeast Conference. The Mountaineers are 178-275 all-time in NEC regular season games, including 102-122 at home. The Mount has advanced to the NEC Tournament in 1997, 2007 and 2008, winning the title in 2008. The Mountaineers have posted a winning season in conference play in five of the past six years.

THE FOUR-GAME SERIES: The Northeast Conference went to four-game series for conference play in 2007. Since then, the Mount has had 27 of the 30 series go a full four games. In those 27 four-game series, the Mount went 4-0 on five occasions, won three of four six times, split the series 10 times, lost three of four five times and was swept just once. The Mount has had four four-game series with Wagner, sweeping the Seahawks in 2007, splitting the set in 2008, losing three of four in 2009 and winning three of four in 2010.

PRESEASON PICKS: The Mount was tabbed to finish in sixth place in the annual Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Central Connecticut State was picked to finish first, followed by Monmouth, Bryant, Wagner, Sacred Heart and the Mount.

UP NEXT: Mount St. Mary's hosts UMBC on Tuesday, March 29, at Straw Family Stadium. The opening pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.