NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Fairfield University baseball team split a doubleheader at Niagara University this afternoon. The Stags edged the Purple Eagles, 3-2, in 10 innings in the opener while Niagara walked off with an 8-7 win in the second game. Fairfield moves to 15-14 overall and 7-3 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
Junior Dean Sadik went a combined 3-for-7 on the day with three runs scored while sophomore Jake Salpietro hit his first career grand slam.
The two teams will play the rubber game of the series tomorrow, April 13, at 12pm.
Game One Recap: Niagara rallied in the ninth inning to force extra innings, but Fairfield pulled out a 3-2 win in the tenth inning.
Trailing 2-0 in the eighth inning, Niagara was able to push a run across plate on an RBI single by Michael Fuhrman. In the bottom of the ninth, pinch hitter Hayden Coll led off with a single. After moving up 90 feet on a sac bunt, Coll scored on a single by Kevin Paulsen to tie the game. Reliever Jeremy Soule was able to get out of the inning and send the game to extra frames.
In the top of the tenth, Jack Giannini roped a one-out single to centerfield and advanced to second on an error during the play. Rookie Dan Hopkins then moved Giannini over to third on a groundout. That set up Brendan Tracy who lifted 1-1 pitch to left center to score Giannini and give the Stags the lead. Niagara threatened in the bottom of the tenth, putting two on with two outs, but Soule was able to strikeout Coll for the win. Soule (2-0) went 2.0 innings striking out three batters.
Junior EJ Ashworth received the no-decision for the Stags. He struck out four batters, allowed one run, and scattered 11 hits over 8.0 innings.
For Niagara, Jacob Lysiak (0-3) took the loss while Jordan Schwartz received the no-decision. Schwartz went 8.0 innings, scattering two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out nine batters. Fairfield got to Schwartz early, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI double by Ryan Plourde and an RBI groundout by Giannini.
Tracy finished the game 2-for-4.
Game Two Recap: Niagara's Taylor Hackett hit a two-out, three-run walk-off home run to lift the Purple Eagles to an 8-7 win over the Stags in the nightcap.
Trailing 7-5 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Schwartz drew a walk while Pavel Chavez-Rusova was hit by a pitch. Hackett then stepped to the plate and delivered the game-winner homer to send Niagara off with the win.
Senior Christian Fox took the loss after tossing 3.1 innings of relief while sophomore Aaron Howell received the no-decision. Niagara's Kevin Lucas (1-0) picked up the win, throwing 1.2 innings of scoreless and hitless relief.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, Niagara put up four runs in the bottom half to take over the lead. In the top of the second, Hopkins blasted his third homer of the year over the right field fence to cut the deficit in half.
In the top of the third, Sadik led off with a single while Rob LoPinto and Plourde were both hit by pitches to load the bases. That's when Salpietro stepped to the plate and sent the first pitch he saw over the left field fence to put the Stags on top, 6-4. Niagara made it a one-run game in the bottom of the fourth on a sac fly by Schwartz, but the Stags got the run back in the sixth on an RBI single by Sadik which made it 7-5.
Sadik went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
