FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University baseball team split a doubleheader with Monmouth University this afternoon. The Stags took game one, 7-1, behind the stellar pitching of EJ Ashworth while the Hawks edged the Stags' 2-0 in the finale.
Fairfield, which won its fifth conference series, moves to 20-15 overall and to 10-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Stags are a game out of first place in the MAAC Standings behind Siena (10-2).
Sophomore Brendan Tracy went a combined 3-for-6 on the day with a double and a run scored while Dean Sadik went a combined 3-for-7 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored.
Fairfield will spend next week on the road, stopping at Fordham on April 22 and Sacred Heart on April 23 before heading up to Siena, April 26-27.
Game One Recap: Ashworth (3-2) tossed a complete game while the Stags' bats came alive in the 7-1 victory. Ashworth allowed just one run on nine hits while striking out three batters in his first complete game effort of the year. Offensively, Fairfield had 10 hits against the Hawks pitching. Sadik went 2-for-3 while Jake Salpietro went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs. Billy Zolga scored twice.
Fairfield opened the scoring the bottom of the first inning. Sadik led off with a double and came around to score on a single by Ryan Plourde to give the Stags the 1-0 lead. Fairfield added two more runs in the third inning. With Alex Witkus on third and Plourde on second, Salpietro tripled to right center to clear the bases and make it 3-0.
Monmouth got one of the runs back in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Connor White. Fairfield countered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Tracy led off with a single while Zolga beat out a groundball to third base for the infield single. Sal Ciccone bunted for a base hit but a wild throw by Monmouth allowed Ciccone to move to second and Tracy to score. A sacrifice bunt by Wikus plated Zolga and extended Fairfield's lead to 5-1. With two outs, Rob LoPinto doubled down the right field line to score Ciccone and make it 6-1.
The Stags added their final run of the day in the bottom of the sixth as Zolga led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on a two-out single by Sadik.
Monmouth's T.J. Hunt (3-5) took the loss, surrendering six runs on eight hits in 4.0 innings.
Game Two Recap: The series finale was a pitchers' duel with Monmouth scratching out a 2-0 win. Monmouth starter Chris McKenna (4-4) and reliever Stephen Frey combined for the shutout. McKenna went 7.0 innings allowing five hits while striking out five batters. Frey tossed the final two innings, holding the Stags to just one hit. For Fairfield, Mike Wallace went 6.1 innings and scattered two runs on nine hits with three strikeouts.
The Hawks struck first in the opening stanza. With two outs, Craig Sweeney singled while Danny Avella drove him in with a double to right field. Monmouth, meanwhile, held Fairfield to just four baserunners through five innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Sadik led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice by LoPinto. Plourde was intentionally walked to put two on for Salpietro. The designated hitter was able to advance Sadik to third with a fly ball, but Monmouth ended the threat by getting the Stags to pop out.
Monmouth loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but only managed only one insurance run. The Stags threatened again in the bottom of the seventh. Tracy led off with a double while Ciccone reached on an infield single to put runners on first and third with one out. The Hawks were able to get out of the jam and keep the Stags off the board the rest of the way.
Tracy went 2-for-3 in the contest for his fifth multi-hit effort this season.
