FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Baseball team announced that five student-athletes have accepted their extra year of eligibility and will return to the Stags for the 2021 season to complete their careers. Tristan Amone, Josh Arnold, Dan Ryan, Eli Oliphant, and John Signore were given the chance after the NCAA Division I council voted to extend each spring athlete an additional season of competition after most of the 2020 campaign was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
Amone will return for his fifth season with the Stags after making five appearances with the Stags during the 2020 shortened season. He hurled six innings during the stretch while striking out seven batters, just four shy of a career-high. He has tossed 31 innings in 30 career appearances heading into 2021.
 
"There are plenty of reasons why I chose to return to school this year," Amone said. "Getting to spend another year with the great coaches and teammates would be the obvious reason. Although, I'd say what drove me to return most is to have one more shot at winning a MAAC Championship. Coming up just short my junior season and then having last year get cut short due to the pandemic made it a no brainer for me."
 
Arnold will also be heading into his fifth season with the Stags after appearing in 49 games with 18 starts. He brings a 7-9 career record and 112 strikeouts into the 2021 campaign. In those 49 appearances, he has tossed nearly 140 inning and supports a 4.58 ERA.
 
"The reason that I chose to come back is because I want to make a run at a MAAC Championship and I truly think we have the team to do it this year," Arnold said. "I've loved every second of playing for this team and I wasn't ready to give that up yet. We have a tremendous group of guys right now and I'm looking forward to what this season has in store."
 
Ryan will patrol center field for another season with the Stags after earning All-MAAC Preseason honors last season. He tied for the team lead with 11 hits during the 2020 shortened season including a 3-for-5 showing with three RBI against Harvard. The former walk-on earned All-MAAC Second Team honors in 2019 after leading the MAAC with 21 doubles while posting a .315 batting average.
 
"I love playing baseball, and I decided to come back because I wasn't ready to give it up yet," Ryan said. "I still have enough in the tank to pursue another run to the MAAC Championship and do something special this year & I think this team has a really good shot of doing it."
 
The Stags' closer Eli Oliphant will also return for another season and will bring an 8-3 career record into the 2021 campaign. Oliphant had a breakout 2019 season by posting a 5-1 record with a team-best 1.79 ERA, which included a 0.80 ERA in his relief outings. He tallied six saves during the 2019 campaign and was named to the MAAC All-Tournament Team after helping the Stags reach the MAAC Championship series.
 
"I wasn't ready to end my baseball career. It's as simple as that," Oliphant said. "This program here at Fairfield University really has made my love for the sport so much stronger over the past four years. Having another opportunity to play for one more year was a no brainer for me. Stags Up!"
Signore will begin his sixth season with the Stags after earning a redshirt year during the 2019 season. Signore, who ranks in the top-five all-time in ERA, innings pitched, and strikeouts, worked his way back from an injury to start three games in 2020. He earned the victory against Harvard after tossing five shutout innings.
 
"Coming back is so important to me because Fairfield University has been the site where I have seen myself grow as a person, an athlete, and a student the most in my entire life," Signore said. "As my parents have told me countless times 'you have the rest of your life to work in an office.' The relationships I have made and continue to make in the classroom and on the diamond made this an easy choice. Baseball has been such an important factor in my life and making me the person I am today, getting to come back and play the sport I love for another year is a dream."
 
The Stags were picked to finish second in the 2020 MAAC Preseason Poll after ending 2019 in the MAAC Championship series. Fairfield played just 11 games before their season was cut short. They ended the campaign with a 7-4 victory over Stetson, their second win of the year.