POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Fairfield University Baseball team will travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., for a three-game conference series against Marist starting with a doubleheader on Friday at noon. The series will be completed with a single game on Saturday at 10am. The Stags enter the weekend slate with the best record in the MAAC with a 18-3 mark, percentage points ahead of Rider. Fairfield will also be looking for their 27th-straight conference series win dating back to 2022.
The Stags enter with 33 overall wins, tying for the 17th-most in the nation. It marks the sixth-straight full season that Fairfield has reached 30 victories and the eighth time in the last nine full campaigns. With 10 more regular season games left on the schedule, Fairfield is six wins shy of tying the program's single-season record in wins set by the historic 2021 squad.
Fairfield has found this success by being fundamentally sound all-around. They are the league's best fielding team with a .976 fielding percentage and also holds the top mark in on-base percentage at .414, both ranking in the top-50 in the nation.
The Stags have drawn the fifth-most walks in Division I, led by
Nick Sturino's 45 base on balls which is already four shy of tying the program's single-season record.
Dean Ferrara has been the catalyst on the offensive side with a league-best 80 hits which is one behind Alabama State's Juan Cruz for the national lead. The MAAC Preseason Player of the Year also leads the conference with a .396 average while placing second with 53 runs scored and third with 49 RBI. He is five base hits shy of becoming the 10th Stag to ever reach 200 career hits.
The Stags are also among the nation's leaders in sacrifice flies with 31, four behind Georgia Tech for the most in Division I.
On the pitching side, the Stags lead the conference in ERA (4.87) and WHIP (1.47).
Ben Alekson has been the ace of the staff, leading the MAAC in: wins (seven), ERA (2.77), and WHIP (1.09).
Marist enters the weekend with a 9-10 MAAC record after series wins against: Mount St. Mary's, Quinnipac, and Niagara. Jason Caliborn is the team's leading hitter with a .317 average. Will Taylor holds the lowest ERA on the staff with a 3.77 mark.
Fairfield will return home for the final homestand of the season, hosting Niagara for a three-game series next weekend with Senior Day scheduled for Saturday.
