FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Before the year is done, the Fairfield University baseball team is scheduled to play in front of their home fans at Alumni Diamond for a program-record 22 games. The first contest comes on Tuesday. The Stags will put their cleats on to the home soil for the first time in 2016, as they open up a nine-game home stand when they welcome in-state rival Hartford to campus on Tuesday at 3pm.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Stags were swept in their recent series against Delaware, but held a lead in each game of the series. Jake Salpietro led the Stags in the power department as he slugged three home runs during the final double header, with two coming in the nightcap. The senior hit .333 with those three long balls and a team-high four RBI. Freshman Tim Zeng, however, led all Stag hitters with a .538 average which consisted of seven hits in his 13 at-bats.
STAGS IN HOME OPENERS: Since 1997, the Stags hold a 10-14-1 record in their first game of a home campaign, but have a 3-9 record over their last 12 home openers. Last season, the Stags had their first home game on April 3 when they took a 3-1 loss to Iona. Their original home debut last season was moved to Bronx, N.Y., due to snow.
SCHEDULE CHANGE: The Stags game against Central Connecticut State scheduled for 3pm on Monday at Alumni Diamond has been canceled.
FAIRFIELD VS HARTFORD: The Stags and the Hawks will be meeting for the 57th time in program history and the fifth-straight season. Fairfield took the advantage in the series in one of their most thrilling wins of the season. The Stags trailed by a run with two outs and nobody on in the ninth inning but Michael Conti singled to begin the rally and would later score the tying run on a wild pitch. In the ever increasing rain, the Stags scored four times in the tenth inning with Billy Zolga singling home the game-winning run in the frame and Fairfield would win the game 7-3. Andrew Gallagher earned the win as he went three shutout innings, the longest outing of the seven Fairfield pitchers.
THE HAWKS SCOUTING REPORT: The 9-5 Hartford Hawks checked in fourth in the first weekly New England Intercollegiate Baseball (NEIBA) Poll and are coming off a series win against Albany. Erik Ostberg is the team's leading hitter and is in the midst of a breakout season as he is hitting .404 with 19 hits, just four fewer than he had in 124 at-bats during last year's rookie campaign. David MacKinnon is trying to build off a 2015 campaign where he was named to the All-America East Second Team. The junior is hitting .346 with 14 runs scored and 7 RBI. He also has one of Hartford's four home runs this season.
UP NEXT: The Stags will continue their play on Alumni Diamond when they welcome another America East foe to the Fairfield campus. The Stags will take on Albany for only the second time in program history on Good Friday at 1pm.
