BROOKVILLE, N.Y. — The LIU baseball team had a pair of reasons to celebrate on Sunday.

The Sharks honored 13 student-athletes during a pregame Senior Day ceremony, then proceeded to win their home finale, 5-2 against Fairleigh Dickinson.

With the rubber-game win, LIU earned its 31st victory, matching the program's Division I single-season record, originally established in 2018.

And this year's edition still has a midweek game at Siena, a three-game Northeast Conference series at Mount St. Mary's and an entire postseason remaining.

The Sharks sit atop the conference standings at 31-17 overall and 16-8 in the NEC.

"Everything they've overcome — from a merger to COVID — and getting the opportunity to get back on the field, it's special," coach Dan Pirillo said. "A lot of the seniors came back. They saw the vision of this program. They saw what this program can be this year. My hat goes off to every senior who came back and played for us."

Ryan Neuweiler, the final of the 13 honorees during the pregame ceremony, surrendered a first-inning solo homer to George Rosales. Neuweiler then proceeded to post four straight scoreless frames before departing with a pair of runners on base and one out in the sixth. He ultimately was charged with two runs on three hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.

After evening the score on Christopher Hund's second-inning RBI single, Giovanni Ciaccio and Carlton Harper's homers in the third staked the Sharks to a 5-1 lead. Ciaccio's three-run shot plated EJ Exposito and Michael Edelman and broke the tie.

"I stepped in there and he gave me two balls, so I was ahead in the count," Ciaccio said. "I took a deep breath. And I heard from the dugout, my coaches were telling me, 'Stay through. Stay through. Stay through.' That was just sitting in the back of my head. And he gave me a pitch in the middle-in, and I just stayed through and barreled it up."

Josh Gainer inherited a pair of baserunners in the ninth with none out and struck out three straight batters to earn his team-leading sixth save.

The Senior Day ceremony honored Colin Adams, Ciaccio, Victor DeNicola, Nick DeSalvo, Edelman, Gainer, Kurt Lange, Joshua Loeschorn, Ryan Mullahey, Neuweiler, Luke Turner, Jalen Wade and Christopher Wasson.

"The emotions were so high today," Ciaccio said. "It was awesome. Today was really special. All of these older guys, this is the last day they get to come out and play on this field."