FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Baseball team completed their 2025 home schedule with a 9-6 setback against LIU on Tuesday. Eight different players recorded a hit in the home finale while five different pitchers recorded scoreless frames. The Stags will now turn their attention to the final MAAC series when they compete for the MAAC Regular Season Championship at Rider this weekend.
LIU scored all nine runs in the first four innings, tallying 11 hits in those frames. The Stags would start a mini-rally after trailing 9-0 in the fifth.
Five different Stag pitchers would hold LIU down to try and give the Stags time to mount that rally.
Ricky Erbeck was the first Stag to throw a scoreless outing with 1.1 innings allowing just one hit and striking out two.
Brendon Miller and
Peter Phillips would then toss back-to-back hitless frames, allowing just one base runner combined during that stretch.
Will Youngman hurled a scoreless eighth and
Blake Helmstetter was called in for the ninth allowing just one hit to close out the frame.
That gave the offense time to try and mount a rally and they started in the middle innings, plating one run in the fifth and three in the sixth. With the bases loaded,
Luke Nomura sent a hard-hit ball that the LIU third baseman made a nice diving stop to his left and was able to get the force out at second.
Nolan Colby would score the Stags' first run giving Nomura the RBI.
Matt Lussier singled home the next Fairfield run in the sixth with a hot shot up the middle.
Liam McIlroy would then score on a passed ball, which also sent Lussier to third. He would make the score 9-4 on a Colby RBI ground out.
The Stags had some more life in the bottom of the ninth as
Jack Byrne sent a long fly ball over the left fielder's head one-hopping the wall and bringing in two runs to make the score 9-6. LIU was able to get the final out with a fly out to right to avoid the Fairfield comeback.
Eight different Stags tallied a hit led by a pair by McIlroy.
Fairfield will now head to Lawrenceville, N.J., to compete for the MAAC Regular Season Championship in a three-game series against Rider starting on Thursday at 3pm. With a series win, the Stags will win their fifth-straight regular season title, extending their conference record.
