FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The awards keep piling up for the Fairfield University Baseball duo of Matthew Bucciero and Ben Alekson who were awarded ABCA/Rawlings All-Region honors. Bucciero, the MAAC Player of the Year, earned First Team honors while Alekson, the MAAC Pitcher of the Year, was voted to Second Team accolades.
 
"We continue to be incredibly proud of both Matt and Ben with these postseason accolades," incoming Head Coach Brian Fay said. "They are great examples of high school recruits who showed up as freshman, bought in to our development process and worked their tails for the next three and four years to turn themselves into some of the best players in the region. It's great to see them being recognized for their work."
 
Bucciero, the only unanimous player on the All-MAAC First Team, was named the MAAC Player of the Year after leading the conference in: home runs (20), RBI (57), and slugging percentage (.688), where he ranked top-50 nationally.
 
The senior had one of the best careers in MAAC baseball history, setting a conference record of 225 RBI and finished one homer shy of tying the conference standard of 56. In his Fairfield career, he set the program record in homers, RBI, total bases, runs scored (221), walks (153), triples (12), while also tying the Fairfield standard with 271 career hits.
 
Alekson also continued his collegiate dominance by being named the MAAC Pitcher of the Year after posting the lowest ERA in the conference with a 2.47 mark, the 16th lowest in the nation. He tied for the team lead with seven wins including a complete game victory in the MAAC Championship opening game against Marist.
 
The right-hander has also had a stellar Fairfield career, tying for the most wins in program history with 22 victories. His 3.15 career ERA is the fourth-lowest by a Stags pitcher and the lowest since the 1976 season.
 
This is another recognition for the two student-athletes with both members named to All-ECAC teams last week. It is also their second All-Region selections of their careers.
 
The duo helped the Stags to their seventh-straight 30-win season while also advancing to the conference's championship series for the fourth-straight year.