FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Baseball team clinched their fifth Regular Season Championship in program history as Griffin Watson launched a walk-off two-run homer on his Senior Day to give the Stags a 19-8 victory over Siena on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Watson's bomb was the sixth home run for the Stags in the game and the third in the final inning. Watson was one of seven Stags honored before the game in Senior Day ceremonies, and he found the perfect way to cap the day.
 
"I'm pretty speechless," Watson said. "It's so surreal. I never would have expected that to happen and it did. There's just a lot of emotions that it's hard to put into words."
 
"He's such a warrior and grinder," Head Coach Bill Currier said of Watson. "It's great to see him have the opportunity to stay in the lineup and be our leadoff hitter and hit like he did in his senior year. He's coming back next year so we are real excited about the stronger and bigger Griffin Watson."
 
Watson's blast also capped a powerful weekend for the Stags who hit 13 combined home runs in the series. That boosted Fairfield's MAAC lead to 72 homers, as they become just the third MAAC team ever to eclipse 70 home runs in a season.
 
Charlie Pagliarini led the team with a pair of homers and increased his team lead to 12, one shy of the program's single season record. Matt Bergevin, Colin Kelly, and Nick Sturino also left the yard with Sturino's blast being the first of his collegiate career.
 
After Siena grabbed the early lead in the top of the first, the Stags would score seven-straight runs in a span of three innings. Bergevin started the scoring with a two-run homer to left center, his ninth of the season. Mike Caruso would add a pair of runs on a well-struck double to the right center field gap with the runner on the move.
 
Watson would single in a run in the second and then score a run on a throwing error by the catcher. Caruso would cap the early scoring with a RBI groundout in the third, putting the score at 7-1 in favor of the Stags.
 
The Saints would add three runs in the fourth but Fairfield would get two of those runs right back on a long blast by Pagliarini, the first of his two bombs in the game. He would also add a screaming line drive that went over the right field wall in the fifth.
 
Needing six runs in the bottom of the eighth to secure the 10-run mercy rule, the Stags erupted for three homers in the final frame. In his final at-bat at Alumni Diamond, Kelly crushed a three-run shot to right, representing his seventh home run of the season and his 199th collegiate hit.
 
Sturino would follow with his first career homer, a two-run shot to right center. Watson would then end the game with his towering shot to left.
 
The Stags pounded out 18 hits, with every starter picking up at least one base knock. Kelly led the team with a 4-for-4 outing with Watson right behind with three base hits.
 
Fairfield has now clinched the regular season championship for the fifth time in program history and the second-straight season. The Stags have now won four regular season titles in the last six full seasons.
 
Fairfield will be the number one seed in the upcoming MAAC Championships in Pomona, N.Y., and will open play on Thursday at 11am.