FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fans at Alumni Diamond can enjoy the first weekend of baseball of the 2016 campaign as the Fairfield University baseball team will welcome the Albany Great Danes on Thursday at 3pm and will also take on the Harvard Crimson on a Saturday doubleheader with first pitch scheduled for noon. The match against Albany was originally scheduled for Friday but had to be switched due to the impending rain during the end of the week.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Stags' ninth inning rally fell short in their home opening loss against Hartford on Tuesday, as Fairfield fell 6-3 against the Hawks. The Stags loaded the bases in the last of the ninth but Hartford's closer Collin Ferguson was able to get the final two outs without a runner crossing the plate. The Stags never led in the game, as the very first pitch of the contest was launched over the left field wall by the Hawks leadoff hitter. Three different Stags recorded multi-hit games with Mac Crispino, Kevin Radziewicz, and Jack Gethings notching two hits apiece.
TIM ZENG IS YOUR MAAC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman Tim Zeng became the second Stag since 2012 to win the conference's Rookie of the Week award after Zeng batted a team-high .438 and led the team by reaching base 53 percent of the time last week. In the series against Delaware, Zeng hit .538 (7-for-13) with his first career four-hit game in the series opener. For the week, Zeng also had five runs and two stolen bases.
FAIRFIELD VS ALBANY: The Stags and the Great Danes will be meeting for just the second time in program history, with the series opener coming with a 9-6 loss in 2005. Third baseman Dewey Raymond had a career day at the plate as he went 5-for-5. At the time, he was the first Stag to notch five hits in a game since 1999, and also tied the club record. Raymond's five hits has been done eight times since the previous Albany meeting, and two Stags set new program records with six hits in a single contest.
THE GREAT DANES SCOUTING REPORT: The 7-10 Great Danes will be the second-straight America East squad the Stags will face after their meeting with Hartford on Tuesday. Albany is led by a trio of players who hit over .300 with senior Matt Hinchy having the best season of his career, batting .377, over 100 points over his previous career-high. Of the other two players, Kyle Sacks (.350) is second on the team with 29 total bases and Kevin Donati (.333) is their speed threat with a team-high seven stolen bases.
FAIRFIELD VS HARVARD: The Stags and the Crimson have a little more history between the two squads by meeting five times prior, but the Ivy League squad has taken all five games. However, all of the previous meetings occurred over 40 years ago with Fairfield and Harvard last squaring off in 1972. To show how long ago the series started, the Crimson was the first Division I team to defeat the Stags, taking all three back in 1971. The opening game of that series was also the first time that a Fairfield team has been shutout, dropping a 2-0 decision.
THE CRIMSON SCOUTING REPORT: Harvard currently possesses the best batting average in the Ivy League at .261 and the 11th most doubles in the country with 30 two-baggers. Sophomore Matt Roethberg looks to be poised for a breakout campaign as he leads the team batting .424 with five doubles and six runs scored. He already has two more doubles and two fewer runs scored than he had in his entire 2015 campaign. Conor Quinn has the potential to be the team's leading hitter by season's end as he was named to the Preseason All-Ivy First Team by College Sports Madness.
The Crimson will send Nick Gruener on the mound for the opener of the doubleheader. This season, the junior has bounced back from a struggling 2015 campaign, and has registered a 2.86 ERA, the best among the team's starting staff.
Harvard's leader in strikeouts will take the mound for the nightcap as Sean Poppen gets the ball for Game Two. The senior also had a slow season during his junior campaign with a 6.22 ERA, but even then showed the potential of his live arm, striking out eight batters three times, and finishing with 48 strikeouts on just 13 walks in his 50.2 innings. This season, Poppen has struck out a team-high 17 batters in 18 innings.
UP NEXT: The Stags will have two days off and then continue their home stand when Hofstra comes to town on Wednesday at 3pm.
