POMONA, N.Y. – The second-seeded Fairfield University Baseball team will open up Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship play against third-seeded Sacred Heart at Clover Stadium in Pomona, N.Y., on Friday at 10am. The Stags, who have reached the MAAC Championship series in back-to-back seasons, will be looking for their first MAAC Championship since 2016 and their first NCAA Regional appearance since 2021.
 
Fairfield will be the two-seed in the tournament for the first time in program history after recording a 21-8 conference mark, finishing second behind Rider. This will be Fairfield's 13th appearance in the MAAC Championships and the sixth-straight season. Fairfield has now reached the tournament 10 times in the 14 years under Head Coach Bill Currier after clinching a spot just three times in the previous 30 years.
 
It was also the sixth-straight season that Fairfield reached 30-wins in the campaign as they tallied 36, the most in the regular season in program history. The Stags were led by six All-MAAC players including four student-athletes earning First Team honors in: Ben Alekson, Matthew Bucciero, Luke Nomura, and Dean Ferrara receiving the accolades. The pair of Tyler Kipp and Bowen Baker were named to the Second Team. Fairfield has now had 32 All-MAAC selections over the last five years.
 
Dean Ferrara has been the hits leader for the squad, entering the tournament with 92 base hits which is four shy of tying his own conference's single-season record set last year. He also places fifth in the nation in hits and his 188 base knocks over the last two years is the most in the country over that span.
 
Bucciero has been one of the biggest power presences for the Stags, leading the league with 60 RBI to go along with his 13 homers. He enters the championships four RBI shy of tying the program's all-time career mark of 165 set 25 years ago. He is also four hits away from 200 in his career and would be the 11th Stag all-time to reach that mark.
 
The Stags had two of their three starters earn All-Conference recognition with Alekson garnering First Team honors and Baker being placed on the Second Team. Alekson, who was one of 52 pitchers in the country named to the National Pitcher of the Year Watch List, enters play with an 8-1 record, one victory shy of tying the program's single-season mark. He also holds the second-lowest ERA in the conference at 3.14. He was named the MAAC Pitcher of the Week three times this year as the Stags earned six weekly awards.
 
As a staff, the Stags lead the MAAC in ERA (4.91) and WHIP (1.45). It is the second-straight season that the Stags have led the conference in those two categories under pitching coach Mike Caruso.
 
Fairfield also holds the highest fielding percentage in the conference at .975, the third-best in program history.
 
The Stags have also been aggressive on the base paths under new volunteer assistant coach John Lagerfeldt. Fairfield has recorded 94 stolen bases on a 84 percent clip, the most steals by a Fairfield team since 1999. Four student-athletes have tallied 15 or more stolen bases, led by Ferrara's 21.
 
The Stags won their series against Sacred Heart, taking two of three from the Pioneers. Alekson got the ball in the opener and tossed six shutout innings allowing just two hits and striking out six.
 
If the Stags win their first game of the tournament, they will play on Friday at 11am against the winner of Rider and Quinnipiac.