PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Fairfield University baseball team tied the game in the top of the eighth inning on a Dylan Reynolds RBI single but was not able to hold on as Brown scored two runs in the bottom half of the frame to take a 5-3 decision over the Stags in the first game of a four-game set.
 
The Stags were able to get on the board first with the catalyst being Jack Gethings who reached base with a one out single in the first inning and would score on a Dan Ryan RBI double.
 
Gethings would join Reynolds as the only Stags with multiple hits in the game. With the two base knocks, Gethings reached 198 in his career and is now just two hits shy of becoming the ninth Stag in program history with 200 career base hits.
 
The run that Gethings scored was also the 128th of his career, surpassing Drew Arciuolo for seventh on the program's all-time list.
 
That lead would not last as Brown scored two runs in the third after a throwing error put both runners in scoring position. Parke Phillips would single both runners home to put the Bears ahead 2-1.
 
The Stags would score single runs in the fourth and the eighth. Reynolds and Justin Guerrera led off the fourth with back-to-back doubles, tying the game at 2-2. After Tyler Gambardella sacrificed the runners into scoring positon with one out, the Bears were able to get out of the jam with two fly outs.
 
Fairfield would have to tie the game again in the eighth and started off the frame with the first two batters reaching base. Gethings singled up the middle and Anthony Boselli drew a walk. Reynolds would drive home Gethings with a single up the middle, but Fairfield could do no more damage as Brown got the final two outs.
 
Austin Pope had his longest outing of the season with six innings pitched and punching out a career-high tying eight batters.
 
The two teams will play in a doubleheader on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 12 noon.