STORRS, Conn.  – The Fairfield University baseball team fell to the University of Connecticut, 12-5, this afternoon at J.O. Christian Field.
 
Freshman Jake Salpietro went 2-for-4 with two RBI on the day, extending his hitting streak to eight games. Sophomore Alex Witkus extended his hitting streak to seven games and scored twice while senior Anthony Hajjar drove in two runs for the Stags.
 
Witkus led off the game by beating out bunt down the third baseline. After stealing second base, he advanced to third on an error and later scored on a groundout by Hajjar. The Huskies, however, tied the game in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly by Vinny Siena.
 
With two outs and runners on the corners in the top of the third inning, Hajjar singled up the middle to put the Stags ahead, 2-1. Jack Giannini followed with a single to the hole at short but UConn (23-13) booted the ball on the play allowing Rob LoPinto to score from third. Salpietro then cleared the bases with a double to the left centerfield wall to give Fairfield the 5-1 advantage. UConn answered in the bottom of the third inning with another sacrifice fly by Siena. The Huskies loaded the bases with two outs but the Stags got out of the inning without any further damage.
 
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Verdi pulled the Stags within 5-3 with a one-out double down the left field line. An intentional walk then loaded the bases for LJ Mazzilli who promptly doubled down the left field line to clear the bases and put the Huskies on top, 6-5. Mazzilli later scored on a triple Bobby Melley to make it a two-run game. UConn added three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend its lead to 10-5. The Huskies added two runs late in the game en route to the win.
 
LoPinto extended his hitting streak to eight games with a hit in the third inning.
 
Sophomore Andrew Gallagher took the loss in his first collegiate start while UConn's Christian Colletti picked up the win.
 
Fairfield (10-21) returns to action tomorrow, April 17, when Northeastern University visits Alumni Diamond at 3:30pm.