FAIRFIELD, Conn. – One of the nation's oldest teams will come to Alumni Diamond as the Stags are scheduled to host the Yale Bulldogs today at 3:15pm. It will be the first non-conference home game for Fairfield and the tenth meeting between the two teams at Fairfield, Conn. Fairfield, who will throw right hander Gavin Wallace, in his first start since Florida in March, have won the last five games in the series. No current Stag player has lost to the Bulldogs in their career.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Stags won their second-straight game after a 13-8 road victory against NJIT. It is the third time this season that the Stags have won back-to-back games. Brendan Tracy led the Stags as he tied a career-high with four RBI including a solo home run in the second inning, his first long ball of the season. Kyle Dube continued his hot streak on the mound, going five shutout innings in earning his third win of the season, leading the team. Seven Stags tallied multi-hit games as Fairfield pounded out 16 hits. Sebastian Salvo had a team leading three base hits, the second time this season that he has accomplished this feat. Tracy was joined by Kevin Radziewicz, who also scored a team leading three runs in the game. Jake Salpietro closed the scoring with a two run double in the ninth, his second hit of the game. Sal Ciccone notched two hits in his only two at-bats. Michael Conti and Alex Witkus also tallied multiple hits. Five different Stags also drove in more than one run, with Tracy leading the way with four RBI. Fairfield tallied career-highs in runs scored with 13 and hits with 16.
LEADING OFF: Freshman Kevin Radziewicz has adjusted to his new position in the batting order as the Stags' leadoff hitter. Radziewicz became just the third Fairfield catcher in the last 15 years to bat lead off in a game, joining Brian Murphy in 2013 and Marco Garamella nearly 10 years ago. Both of those catchers combined to hit leadoff in just three games. In the seven games Radziewicz has been starting the game off, he is hitting .333 with an on base percentage of .484.
DUBE DOES IT: Sophomore pitcher Kyle Dube has been one of the more impressive pitchers for the Stags this season getting the weekday nod. In his last four starts, Dube has pitched to a 2.00 ERA with 14 strikeouts in his last 18 innings. Dube did not allow a hit for the first four innings against NJIT and has not allowed an earned run in his last 11 innings pitched.
FAIRFIELD VS YALE: The Stags and the Bulldogs will be meeting for the 46th in program history with the Stags taking the last five meetings. All-time Yale is 25-20 against the Stags with a 5-4 mark at Alumni Diamond. With the five game winning streak, no current Stag has lost to the Bulldogs in their career. Sebastian Salvo leads the current Stags with three hits against Yale. The current group has only tallied 11 of the 34 hits against the Ivy League squad over the last three seasons. Alex Witkus has a couple of those knocks while Dean Sadik has also tallied a pair. Billy Zolga has only one hit against Yale but it was a home run, a game that he scored three runs during. On the mound, EJ Ashworth has earned a win against Yale, going 5.2 innings of shutout relief scattering just five hits and striking out four. Andrew Gallagher has thrown 3.2 innings in his career against the Bulldogs with one one run allowed, a 2.81 ERA. Anthony DiMauro, Ian Tresser, Ryan O'Connor, and Tim Duggan all pitched a scoreless inning of relief against Yale last season.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: The Bulldogs are coming into the game on a five game losing streak, with their last win coming on March 30. The two teams have one mutual opponent in Hartford, who the Stags defeated 7-3 but the Bulldogs split with a 23-8 win and a 5-2 loss. Yale's offense is hands down led by Eric Hsieh. The senior leads the Bulldogs with a .426 batting average with 29 hits and 21 walks for an on base percentage of .579, the highest number in the country. The .429 average is sixth best in the country. Hsieh is also one of the best fielders on the team with a .994 fielding percentage with one error in 164 chances. Richard Slenker is their power hitter, a Second Team Ivy League selection last season. Slenker is tied for the team lead with 12 RBI this season. On the mound, the Bulldogs have used 13 pitchers this season who have pitched to a combined 9.30 ERA. Five pitchers have an ERA over 14.00 with Nate O'Leary leading the quintet with 9.2 innings this season. Drew Scott was the last Bulldog to start a weekday and non-conference game. Eight of the last nine games that Yale has played have been against an Ivy League opponent.
UP NEXT: Even though it is still early in the season, the Stags will have a huge conference series when they travel to Rider this weekend. The Broncs were the top ranked team in the conference in the first RPI rankings at 142. The series starts Saturday with a doubleheader at noon and will conclude the following day with first pitch also at noon.
