FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Matthew Bucciero crushed three homers and tallied seven RBI in leading the Fairfield University Baseball team to a doubleheader split against crosstown rivals Sacred Heart. The Stags dropped the first game 12-7 before responding for a 15-6 victory in the nightcap. Bucciero launched three of Fairfield's five combined homers with
TJ Schmalzle and
Zach Stephenson also going deep.
Game One: Sacred Heart 12; Fairfield 7
Bucciero homered in the first and sixth innings while recording four RBI during the first six frames to give the Stags a 7-4 lead going into the bottom half of the sixth.
JP Kuczik and
Jake Haarde had the other two run-scoring hits with both bringing home runs with singles in the third.
Sacred Heart would answer with eight runs in the bottom of the sixth to grab an eventual 12-7 victory.
Schmalzle led the Stags by going 4-for-4 in the opener while scoring three runs.
Game Two: Fairfield 15; Sacred Heart 6
Stephenson, Schmalzle and Bucciero all homered in the nightcap with the Stags amassing 16 hits in the contest.
Fairfield led by as many as 13 when
Dom Camera plated a run in the seventh with a RBI double.
Seven different Stags recorded a RBI with 10 different student-athletes picking up a hit.
Luke Nomura tied for the team lead with three base knocks in his first at-bats in over a month.
Stephenson reached base four times on a pair of hits and walks.
With his three home runs, Bucciero becomes the second Stag ever to reach 20 home runs in a season and his four shy of tying Charlie Pagliarini for the single season record.
Harrison Engle earned his sixth win of the season, tying
Ben Alekson for the team lead. He went six innings surrendering just an unearned run on three hits and striking out four.
The two teams will play the rubber game of the series and the final regular season contest tomorrow with first pitch at 1pm.
