Skip To Main Content

Fairfield University Athletics

Fairfield University Stags
Nike
Baseball Opens Season at North Florida on Friday

Baseball Fairfield University

Baseball Opens Season at North Florida on Friday

The Fairfield University baseball team opens their 2014 season with a three-game series at the University of North Florida, February 21-23. The first pitch of the series is slated for 6pm on Friday. The two teams will play single games on Saturday and Sunday with both games beginning at 1pm.

On the Web: North Florida will be providing Live Stats for this weekend's games.

Follow Us: Follow the Stags on Twitter @FairfieldStags, using #GoStags and on Instagram @FairfieldAthletics. And, be sure to Like FairfieldUAthletics on Facebook.

Fairfield vs. North Florida (2-1): Fairfield and North Florida will meet for the first time in program history. The Ospreys will be four games into their season when the Stags visit this weekend. North Florida travels to Florida on February 19. The Ospreys won their first two games of the year, topping Liberty, 11-4, and Richmond, 4-3. They fell to USF, 12-1. North Florida was picked second in the Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason Poll. Last season, the Ospreys went 40-19 and posted an 18-9 mark in league play to earn the third seed in the A-Sun Tournament. North Florida won two games before being eliminated by Kennesaw State. Sophomore outfielder Donnie Dewees and senior pitcher Tyler Moore were named to the Preseason All-Conference team. Dewees earned Freshman All-America honors from Louisville Slugger, NCBWA and Perfect Game in 2013. He led North Florida in hitting, batting .347 with five home runs and 47 RBIs. Moore saw limited action in 2013 because of an injury but as a sophomore, Moore was a Second Team All-Conference selection after boasting a 2.16 earned run average and striking out 88 batters.

Stags in Season Openers: Fairfield has been victorious in its last four season openers, including the doubleheader sweep of Longwood University to open the 2013 season.  In 2012, Fairfield opened the year with a 10-4 victory over Youngstown State. The Stags defeated William & Mary, 6-5, to begin the 2011 campaign and Virginia Commonwealth, 7-5, to start the 2010 season. The win over VCU sparked an eight-year skid in season openers.

MAAC Preseason Poll: Fairfield was picked to finish sixth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Preseason Coaches Poll. Senior Ryan Plourde was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team for the second consecutive season. Plourde was an All-MAAC First Team and a NEIBA All-Star selection as a junior, after hitting .354 with 19 multi-hit games. The outfielder collected 62 hits, 37 RBIs, 36 runs, 31 walks, and 87 total bases. He was 15-for-16 in the stolen base department and was the only Stag to start all 49 games last season.

Welcome Back: Fairfield welcomed back 24 players from one season ago. The Stags have one graduate student, four seniors, 11 juniors, and eight sophomores. 

Fresh Faces: The Stags have 11 newcomers for the 2014 season.

Road Warriors: Fairfield will play 20 of its first 21 games of the year on the road. The only home game in that stretch is set for March 19 when the Stags host NJIT.

Streaking Stags: Two Stags enter the 2014 season with hitting and on-base streaks intact. Senior Ryan Plourde has reached base in 18 consecutive games dating back to April 17, 2013. Jack Giannini has a six-game hitting streak dating back to May 11, 2013.

Moving on Up: Senior Ryan Plourde enters the 2014 season ranked among Fairfield's career leaders in: hits (158/11th), on-base percentage (.420/9th), triples (8/t-5th), walks (82/10th), total bases (236/15th), and games started (141/15th). Plourde is poised to enter the top-15 in several other categories as he begins the year with 12 homers, 26 doubles, 27 RBI, 94 runs scored, 503 at-bats, and a career .314 batting average.

Cape Bound: Sophomore pitcher Mike Wallace already has a summer league destination. The righty will be suiting up for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League during the summer.  In 2012, Mark Bordonaro was slated to pitch for Chatham when he was drafted and signed by the Seattle Mariners. Former Stag Rob Gariano pitched for the Harwich Mariners in 2009, earning CCBL Pitcher of the Week honors. Former Stag Dan Krines pitched for Chatham during 2000 and 2001, earning Co-Player of the Year honors. Former Stag Scott Larkin pitched for Falmouth in 1992 while Keefe Cato pitched for Harwich in 1978.

2013 in Review: Fairfield closed out the 2013 season by winning eight of its final 10 games, which included three consecutive MAAC series victories. The Stags finished with a 20-29 overall record and an 11-13 mark in the MAAC to finish fifth overall. As a team, Fairfield led the league in pick-offs (14); was third in sacrifice hits (44); fourth in: triples (10), stolen bases (63), fielding double plays (45), ERA (4.79), WHIP (1.49), and opponent batting average (.275); fifth in: batting average (.262), slugging percentage (.333), runs (252), and RBI (217); and sixth in hits (424). Individually, outfielder Ryan Plourde finished fifth in batting average (.354), second in on-base percentage (.458), and fourth in slugging percentage (.497), walks (31), and stolen bases (15). Shortstop Sal Ciccone was third in sac bunts (10) while centerfielder Alex Witkus was tied for third in stolen bases (16). Pitcher EJ Ashworth finished tied for fifth in ERA (3.33).

Looking Ahead: Fairfield closes February and opens March with a three-game series at the University of Richmond. The Stags return to Virginia one week later for a three-game series at George Mason University.
Print Friendly Version