Newark well represented at start of NCAA Division I season

NEWARK, N.Y. – A fleet of former and future Newark Pilots kicked off the long “Road to Omaha” with their respective college teams during the opening weekend for NCAA Division I baseball this past weekend.Here are the top Pilot performers from the early part of the NCAA Division I baseball season:B.J. Nobles (2014), Western Carolina – Sophomore right-hander B.J. Nobles pitched a gem to lead the Western Carolina Catamounts to a 15-4 victory over Purdue in Game 1 of a Saturday doubleheader. Nobles tossed a six innings of relief and fanned 11, both career highs. He surrendered only three hits without issuing a walk en route to Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week honors.Samm Wiggins (2013-14), Houston Baptist – Wiggins made four straight starts behind the plate for the Huskies to start the season. The junior backstop is hitting .333 with two doubles, three RBIs and six runs scored, and he homered against Rice on Tuesday.Tim Lewis (2014), Maryland – Senior outfielder Tim Lewis started in left field for the Terrapins in their first three games of the season. He turned in his best performance against Old Dominion on Saturday, going 2-for-4 with a run scored in a 5-2 win. He doubled in the season-opening win on Friday over Western Kentucky.Kane Sweeney (2012), Morehead State – Sweeney and the Morehead State Eagles are off to a 3-1 start after winning their opening series against San Diego. The 6-3 senior started every game at first base and is second on the team with a .389 batting average. He went 3-for-4 with his first home run in the only loss of the series on Sunday. Sweeney was a Perfect Game All-Ohio Valley Conference preseason selection.Luke Swenson (2011), UC Santa Barbara – Swenson, a member of the 2011 PGCBL Championship team, made three starts in the outfield for the Gauchos in their four-game sweep of BYU. The redshirt senior went 2-for-4 with three RBIs in Monday’s 5-4 victory to close the series. Swenson is batting .400 through four games.Jared Watson (2012), Samford – Watson, a redshirt junior, has started all three games and batted second in the lineup as a designated hitter for Samford. He was 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI in the Bulldogs’ 10-8 win over Radford on Saturday.Brian Dudek (2015), Buffalo – Dudek is hitting .300 for the Bulls through three games. He started all three games, two at second base and one at designated hitter. The sophomore went 2-for-3 in Sunday’s 6-3 loss to Gardner-Webb.Notables: Logan Harasta (2015, Buffalo) retired the two batters he faced in his first appearance on the mound for UB as a true freshman… Phillip Flach (2012, Samford) has two strikeouts and hasn’t allowed an earned runsin an inning of relief…Michael Eaton (2015, San Francisco) started three out of four games at second base for the Dons in their series vs. Texas Tech…Dorian Hairston (2014, Kentucky) went 1-for-2 with a run scored off the bench in Kentucky’s season-opening win over Ball State…Vinny Martin (Iona, 2015) came in with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning of Iona’s 1-0 loss to Missouri on Friday and escaped unscathed before tossing a scoreless seventh…Chris Folinusz (Rutgers, 2014) started at catcher and doubled in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader against Miami.