FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Baseball team plated 14 runs, their most in a home game this season, leading to a 14-4 victory over visiting Hartford at Alumni Diamond. Every Stag starter picked up at least one hit with
Mike Becchetti leading the squad with a 3-for-3 performance including a three-run homer to dead center field.
Jake Noviello picked up the win on the mound with six strong innings.
"It's good for Novi," Head Coach
Bill Currier, who picked up the 799th win of his career, said. "He didn't have his best stuff but he battled and worked hard and had efficient innings. It was a tough day for our hitters to be disciplined but they did a good job. They did a good job of not chasing and staying disciplined. We got a lot of players in today and a lot of starters out early. It was good to see some hitters who don't get in as much."
The Stags (19-12) scored at least a run in each of the first four innings, plating 11 runs during that span. Fairfield was actually trailing 1-0 going into their first at-bats but managed to erase that deficit with a
Charlie Pagliarini RBI single and a two-run double by
Matt Bucciero.
Becchetti brought home three with a long home run to dead center field in the second, which was followed by a
Matt Bergevin sacrifice fly.
Ryan Strollo also had a productive out in the third with another sac fly, accounting for the only run of the third.
The Stags added three in the fourth on a
Mike Handal RBI single and a two-run double by
Ethan Hibbard. Fairfield would show off their power with back-to-back homers in the sixth coming off the bats of Bucciero and A.J. Donofrio. The latter long ball from Donofrio was one of the highlights of the contest as he drilled a ball over the right field wall that one-hopped the townhouses in right field.
Fairfield would cap their scoring with a Bergevin RBI single in the seventh.
On the mound, Noviello allowed just the first inning run over his six innings, striking out four while allowing six hits. He was helped out by his defense with
Mike Handal making a pair of nice running catches in center and Bucciero robbing a homer in right.
Bo Buckley threw the most of the four relievers in the game, tossing 1.1 scoreless frames.
The two teams will conclude the series with a double header tomorrow in West Hartford, Conn., starting at 11am.
