Feb. 22, 2006

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Fairfield University baseball team opens the 2006 campaign this weekend with a three-game series at James Madison University. All three games will be played at Long Field at Mauk Stadium in Harrisonburg, Va.

James Madison enters this week with a 0-3 record after being swept by No. 1/2 (Baseball America/Collegiate Baseball) Clemson, last weekend. JMU was scheduled to host George Washington on Wednesday afternoon, before welcoming the Stags for the weekend series, but snow forced postponement.

Series Info: Fairfield (0-0, 0-0 MAAC) at James Madison (0-3, 0-0 CAA)
Game 1: Fairfield at James Madison, Friday, Feb. 24, 2:30 p.m.
Game 2: Fairfield at James Madison, Saturday, Feb. 25, 1 p.m.
Game 3: Fairfield at James Madison, Sunday, Feb. 26, 12 p.m.

Live Internet Coverage: Live stats of all three games will also be available through the James Madison website

Quick hits: Fairfield opens its 56th season of intercollegiate play this weekend ... Head Coach John Slosar enter his 22nd season as the Fairfield head coach ... In the 55 years as a varsity program, Fairfield has not opened the season in the month of February ... First baseman John Scaife recorded 47 runs batted in last year, which ranks second on the school's single-season list ... Scaife led Fairfield with 15 multi-hit games, and 13 multi-RBI games in 2005 ... Second baseman Brian Schappert hit .417 with runners in scoring position and 2-outs ... He was 5-for-12 with six runs batted in last season ... Scaife had 16 runs batted in with the bases loaded as he was 4-for-6 ... Catcher Tom Arpino had three doubles against the University of Connecticut on April 19, 2005.

Scouting The Dukes: James Madison is 0-3 on the season, after opening the season last weekend at Clemson ... JMU finished the 2005 season with a 20-35 overall record, and an 8-16 mark in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) ... Last weekend, the Duke ran into the stellar Clemson pitching staff ... David Stoneburner led the team at the plate last weekend going 2-for-6 Kellen Kulbacki was 2-for-8 with a run scored ... Michael Cowgill also had a pair of hits for the Dukes.

Series vs. James Madison: For the second time in the history of the program, Fairfield will play its season-opener at James Madison ... The Stags fell to the Dukes 12-6, and 8-3 in a doubleheader to begin the 1998 season ... James Madison leads the all-time series 2-0.

The Coaches: John Slosar (Connecticut '72) is beginning his 22nd season at the helm of the Fairfield University baseball team ... Before assuming the reins as head coach in 1985, Slosar was an assistant coach for the Stags for eight seasons ... Since coming to Fairfield in 1975, Slosar has helped coach to a MAAC championship, four MAAC South titles, six ECAC playoff appearances and 12 20-win seasons ... He is a 1972 graduate of the University of Connecticut, and helped the Huskies to a fifth place finish at the College World Series as a senior batting .400 ... In addition he was named to the Sporting News All-American squad as an honorable mention ... Joe "Spanky" McFarland (Hillsdale (Mich.) '76) enters his ninth season at the helm of the James Madison baseball program ... He has guided the Dukes to a 243-212-2 record in that time, while earning Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Coach of the Year honors in 2002 ... In addition to his coaching duties, McFarland has authored two books on pitching, "Developing Pitchers" and "Coaching Pitchers."

Web Gems: Fairfield produced solid play in the field last season, as it led the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) with a team .967 fielding percentage ... The play of the middle infield was especially stellar, as shortstop Doug Anderson finished the season with a .975 percentage, committing only six errors in 240 chances ... He recorded 82 putouts and 152 assists ... At second base, Mark Geanuleas, who graduated last May, had a .989 fielding percentage, committing only two errors in 189 chances ... Geanuleas registered 85 putouts and 102 assists.

The Last Time We Met: Fairfield opened the 1998 season with a doubleheader at James Madison ... In the first game, JMU defeated the Stags 12-6 behind starter Aaron Sams ... Sams tossed six innings giving up four runs (one earned) on nine hits and no walks ... He struck out five batters to record his third win of the season ... Fairfield starter Bobby Wenzel lasted only four and two-thirds innings giving up seven runs on nine hits and three walks ... At the plate, Fairfield was led by Jim Lopusznick who went 2 for 5 with three runs scored ... In the nightcap, JMU defeated the Stags 8-3 ... Paul Macchio paced the Stags at the plate going 3 for 4, and Lopusznick and his brother Tom each had a pair of hits.

Roster Breakdown: Fairfield's 34-man roster is relatively young this season ... The team includes one graduate student, seven seniors, four juniors, 12 sophomores and 10 freshmen, meaning 22-of-34 are freshmen or sophomores ... 14 players hail from the State of New York, followed by seven players from the State of New Jersey ... Five players are from Connecticut, followed by three from Pennsylvania, two from Illinois and Massachusetts, and one from Rhode Island.

High Five: Third baseman Dewey Raymond had five hits against Albany on April 6, 2005 ... Raymond tied the school-record for hits in a game ... Raymond joins eight other Fairfield players to have five hits in a game ... The Norwalk, Conn. native, was 5-for-5 with a run scored and a run batted in ... Catcher Tom Arpino also had five hits against Saint Peter's last season ... He went 5-for-6 with a homerun, two doubles, four runs scored, and five runs batted in on April 3.

High Powered Offense: In a three-game series against Saint Peter's, Fairfield outscored the Peacocks, 46-11 ... In the first game of the series, Fairfield set a school record for runs in a game winning 29-10 ... Game two of the series, the Stags won 12-1 ... The series finale was a more baseball like score of 5-0.

Captains: Following the fall season, Fairfield Head Coach John Slosar named seniors Dan Breen, Dewey Raymond, and John Scaife tri-captains of the 2006 team.

On The Web: For updated information on the Fairfield University baseball team, please log onto www.fairfieldstags.com and click on the baseball page ... The site offers media and fans in-depth information on all Fairfield University athletic teams ... You will receive the latest media notes, player bios, game results and box scores, as well as up-to-date season statistics.

On Deck:
Friday, March 3 @Fordham, 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 4 @Fordham, 1 p.m.
Sunday, March 5 @Fordham, 1 p.m.