FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University baseball team posted their 30th victory of the year by topping Marist College, 9-5, this afternoon in the regular season finale at Alumni Diamond. Three Stags had multi-games, including junior Alex Witkus, who went 3-for-5.
Witkus also scored twice and picked up two stolen bases to bring his season total to 29. Junior Sebastian Salvo and Sal Ciccone continued to swing hot bats. Salvo went 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs, and a run scored while Ciccone went 2-for-4 with a run scored and one driven in.
Sophomore Jake Salpietro went 1-for-2 with a double, a walk, a stolen base, and two runs batted in. Junior Dean Sadik also picked up a pair of RBIs. Senior Ryan Plourde had his hitting streak snapped, but extended his streak of reaching base safely to 29 games. The catcher drew two walks, scored one run, and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Marist (17-32; 10-14 MAAC) took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning but Fairfield countered in the bottom of the first. With one out, Witkus singled while Plourde walked. Both runners scored on a Salpietro double to the left field corner. Salvo made it 3-0 with a single up the middle to score Salpietro.
The Stags added three more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Freshman Mac Crispino led off with a single while Ciccone bunted for a base hit. A throwing error on the play allowed both runners to move up 90 feet. Sadik followed with a single to left field to clear the bases and would later score on a sacrifice fly by Plourde to make it 6-1.
In the bottom of the third inning, Salvo led off with a single while Billy Zolga doubled to put runners in scoring position. Salvo scored on an RBI groundout by Crispino for the 7-1 advantage. Marist scored in the top of the fifth inning but the Stags got the run back in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI single by Ciccone. Fairfield added another run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Marist countered in the top of the seventh pushing one run across the plate. The Red Foxes rallied for two more runs in the top of the eighth inning to pull within 9-5. In the top of the ninth, Marist loaded the bases with two outs but Joe Randall was able to get the final out of the game and end the Red Foxes season.
Freshman Kyle Dube (2-1) picked up the win after going a scheduled 4.0 innings and scattering one run on four hits with two strikeouts. Jordan Eich (3-6) took the loss after allowing seven runs, five earned, on eight hits in 2.0 innings.
Fairfield (30-22; 15-8 MAAC) is the third seed in the 2014 MAAC Baseball Championship and will face sixth-seeded Manhattan College in the opening game on May 21. First pitch on Wednesday is slated for 12pm at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, N.J. For complete tournament information or to purchase tickets, visit MAAC Championship Central.
