FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Baseball team will head to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., as they embark on their final road series of the season with a three-game slate against Marist starting on Friday at 3pm. The series will continue on Saturday and Sunday with both first pitches at 1pm. The Stags will be looking for their 10th-straight MAAC series victory after taking two of three from Canisius last weekend.
The Stags enter the weekend in first place in the MAAC, leading second place Rider and Canisius by percentage points with their 11-4 record.
As has been the theme all season, the Stags' offense is also tops in the MAAC and near the top in almost every category in the country. Fairfield sits 13th in batting average (.314), 14th in runs per game (8.8), 21st in on-base percentage (.416), and 24th in slugging percentage (.527).
All of those numbers would break the single season mark in Fairfield's history.
In total, the Stags lead the MAAC in seven offensive categories also including: hits (483), doubles (96), and home runs (71). The 71 homers is four shy of tying the program's single season record set last season and already ranks fourth in a single season in MAAC history.
Charlie Pagliarini has been at the forefront of Fairfield's offensive explosion as he leads the conference with: a .399 average, 18 homers, 67 RBI, a .528 on-base percentage, and an .828 slugging percentage. He is also one home run shy of making more history and tying Tom Lopusznick's career mark at 35, which was set 23 years ago. He also ranks 10th in MAAC history.
As a team, the Stags will also be looking to make history in their series with the Red Foxes as they need two more wins to reach 30 wins for the third-straight season. It will be the first time in program history that the Stags would have achieved that feat. It would also mark the seventh time in 12 seasons they have reached that number under Head Coach
Bill Currier.
The Fairfield pitching will try to cool off the Marist bats as the starters have combined for 15 of those wins.
Colin McVeigh leads all arms on the staff with an unblemished 6-0 record and a 3.67 ERA.
Out of the bullpen,
Bowen Baker is coming off an impressive series against Canisius as the left-hander appeared in 5.1 innings over the weekend while picking up his fourth save of the season.
Marist enters play with a 13-33 overall record and a 7-11 mark in conference play. Freshman Bayram Hot leads the team with a .390 average and a .456 on-base percentage. Brian Hart is the team's leading power hitter with 13 homers and 49 RBI. Marist also likes to be aggressive on the base paths with 105 stolen bases this season.
Fairfield will next gear up for the final week of the regular season, starting with a midweek game at UMass on Tuesday at 4pm.
