FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University baseball team will travel to Dutchess Stadium in Wappinger Falls, N.Y., for a three game conference series with the Manhattan Jaspers, starting with a single game on Friday at 2pm and a Saturday doubleheader at 1pm. If the Stags stay hot, it won't be their only trip to the minor league home of the Hudson Valley Renegades, that's because the 4,500 seat stadium will also be the host of the 2016 MAAC Championships. The Stags, winners of ten-straight MAAC games are well on their way from securing a spot for the Memorial Day weekend tournament.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Stags secured their tenth comeback victory of the season, rallying for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth, en route to a 14-9 victory over reigning America East champions Stony Brook. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Seawolves, dating back to 2007. There were many offensive stars in the win, with Troy Scocca leading the team with a 4-for-4 outing, tallying one of the three two-run singles in the deciding sixth inning. However, no one got more praise from his teammates than freshman Patrick O'Leary, who had the best outing of his career. A Fairfield Ludlowe High School product, O'Leary appeared on Alumni Diamond for the first time as a Stag and threw three hitless innings, recording his first career save.
STAGS GETTING SOME ATTENTION: The Fairfield Stags own the second longest conference winning streak in the nation, with 10-straight victories. After being pre-ranked to finish eighth in the MAAC, the Stags now hold first place in the conference, percentage points ahead of Canisius. The 10 league wins is already one more than they had all of last season. With all this success, the Stags have caught some national attention. The squad was mention by Associated Press writer Eric Olson in his column The Big Story. Baseball America also now has the Stags in their latest Field of 64, as the four-seed in the Gainesville, Fla. region, at number one overall seed Florida.
FAIRFIELD VS MANHATTAN: The Stags have beaten only one team more times than the Manhattan Jaspers, recording 70 victories in their 115 meetings. However, the Jaspers took two from the three-game series against the Stags last season. Mac Crispino had the best individual game with a three-hit outing in last year's MAAC opener for both teams. Troy Scocca notched the RBI that would become the game-winner in the finale, where former Stag Mike Wallace threw a two-hit complete game shutout.
SCOUTING THE JASPERS: Manhattan is the home to the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year in Christian Santisteban, who leads the team with a .364 batting average and .448 on-base-percentage. However, the biggest addition for Manhattan has been freshman Fabian Pena who leads the team with six of the team's 10 home runs this season. He is also batting .343 and has drove in a team-high 35 runs this year. On the rubber, Joey Rocchietti has the best numbers among the weekend rotation with a 3.77 ERA and a team-leading 59.2 innings pitched. Michael Scarinci will be in the rotation, making his third start of the season in 19 appearances.
UP NEXT: The Stags will return home to take on NJIT on Tuesday, May 3, at 3:30pm.
