POMONA, N.Y. – The Fairfield University Baseball team crushed three more home runs, breaking the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) single season record and the Stags held on to defeat sixth-seeded Manhattan 8-7 in the MAAC Championships.
Matt Bergevin,
Ethan Hibbard, and
Noah Lucier all went deep for the Stags who will advance to the Winner's Bracket finals tomorrow at 11am.
"
Jake Noviello really turned it around in the fourth inning," Head Coach
Bill Currier said. "I'm proud of Jake for executing a little bit better. We had some clutch hits and certainly some home runs. Every run counted as it ended up a one-run game. I'm proud of our hitters when they attacked."
Manhattan tallied the first three runs of the game heading into the bottom of the second when the Fairfield bats woke up with a five-spot in the bottom half of the frame. Bergevin started the Fairfield rally with a leadoff solo shot down the left field line to get the Stags on the board. Hibbard, who led the team with two hits, got the first of his base knocks with a long RBI double that hit toward the top of the wall in right center field.
Paul Catalano would follow as he drove in Handal with a safety squeeze on a perfectly executed bunt.
Charlie Pagliarini continued his RBI barrage, driving in two more with a single to bring his total to 88, increasing his MAAC single season record and give the Stags their first lead of the day.
The Stags would add two more runs in the fifth as Hibbard continued his historic pace, blasting a two-run shot to left, the sixth-straight game he has homered. The senior catcher had just nine at-bats entering this year and now has nine homers this year.
Lucier would cap the Fairfield scoring with a solo shot in the sixth, his third of the year.
Noviello tossed three-straight scoreless innings after allowing four runs through the first three frames. He would retire eight-straight batters before running into trouble in the seventh, eventually being chased by an Alfred Delgado double.
Peter Ostensen would come in from the bullpen and get a huge groundout, stranding the bases loaded.
Ostensen would face a bases loaded jam again in the eighth but force a pop out to second to get out of trouble. He would finish the game with a perfect ninth inning to earn his second save of the season.
Seven different Stags picked up hits in the game, led by a pair from Hibbard. It is the fourth-straight game with two hits and is now hitting .556 in the last six games.
The Stags will advance to the Winner's Bracket Finals, playing the winner of second-seed Rider and third-seeded Quinnipiac tomorrow at 11am.
