FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University baseball team fell to Manhattan College, 8-5, this afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action at Alumni Diamond.
 
Junior Jack Giannini went 2-for-4 for the Stags with a run scored while junior Anthony Hajjar went 1-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored, one driven in, and a stolen base.
 
Manhattan (23-24; 12-6 MAAC) staked starter Taylor Sewitt a 4-0 lead as he entered the bottom of the sixth inning. Fairfield (21-25; 9-9 MAAC) broke through with two outs in the stanza as Hajjar hit his first homer of the year to make the score 4-1.
 
The Stags cut the gap to 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh. Giannini and freshman Sebastian Salvo got things started with back-to-back singles. With one out, senior Mark Skrapits singled in Giannini while Salvo scored on a Manhattan throwing error on the play. The Jaspers were able to escape the inning with a one-run lead.
 
Manhattan answered in the top of the eighth inning with a three-run effort. The Stags responded in the bottom half of the frame, scoring two runs. Freshman Alex Witkus led off with a double and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Ryan Plourde.  Hajjar, who reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning, made the score 7-5 trotting home on a wild pitch. The Jaspers were able to get out of the inning and added another run in the top of the ninth for the 8-5 win.
 
Sewitt (6-1) picked up the win, scattering four runs, three earned on six hits with six strikeouts. Jacob Marchus picked up the save. Senior Brett Shulick took the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
 
Fairfield returns to action May 11-12 when it travels to Siena College for a three-game series.