FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Baseball team will take on two on the state's two most recognizable baseball programs when they travel to nationally ranked UConn on Tuesday at 3pm and then follow with a home game against Yale on Wednesday at 3pm.
The Stags are coming off a series victory against Marist, despite dropping their latest outing 11-2, which snapped a season-long six-game winning streak.
Dan Ryan led the Stags with a .600 batting average in the conference series, including driving in both of Fairfield's runs in the 11-2 setback. Ryan drove in a team-high four runs in the series.
Ryan was one of four Stags to hit over .300 in the series, joining
Justin Guerrera (.400),
Anthony Boselli (.364), and
Jack Gethings (.300). Ryan also started Fairfield's game deciding nine run inning in the series opener as he tripled home two runs.
The Fairfield bullpen was immaculate during the Marist series, pitching to a 2.08 ERA through their 8.2 innings of work. The Marist hitters also recorded a batting average of just .194 against the Fairfield relievers, compared to a .400 batting average the Stags had against the Red Foxes pen. For the season, the Stags have a bullpen ERA of 3.86 with a .245 batting average against.
Josh Arnold will get the start for the Stags after earning a no decision in his outing against St. John's. Arnold will be making his third start of the season, holding a 1.11 ERA in those starts.
UConn enters play ranked No. 22 in the country in both the D1Baseball.com and Baseball America polls. The Huskies have won six of their last eight contests, with their only losses coming to Houston and UCF. UConn has three players with a batting average greater than .300, led by Michael Woodworth who holds a .386 average.
Yale, like the Stags, have won their first two conference series with victories over Brown and Cornell. Simon Whiteman leads the squad with a .382 average while Jake Gehri is the team's biggest power hitter with six home runs and 22 RBI.
The Stags will start a seven-game road trip starting with a three-game set at Siena starting on Saturday, April 6 at noon.
