Baseball

Feb. 25, 2000

Fairfield, Conn. - Fairfield University's Tom Lopusznick (Leonardo, N.J.) has been selected as the 2000 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Baseball Pre-Season Player of the Year. Lopusznick headlined this year's All-MAAC Pre-Season Team, voted on by the league's ten head coaches. The Stags were picked to finished sixth in the MAAC Pre-Season Coaches Poll, tied with Manhattan.

Lopusznick, a 5-foot-10 senior right fielder for the Stags, was also named MAAC Pre-Season Player of the Year by Baseball America. He was named to the All-MAAC South Team last year after belting a school record 10 home runs. Lopusznick batted .333 for the season, drove in 42 runs and stole 33 bases in 37 attempts. One of the most prolific hitters in program history, he enters his senior season tied for first all-time at Fairfield with 25 home runs, second with 129 RBI and third with 59 stolen bases. Lopusznick also played an errorless season in 1999 and recorded four assists.

Fairfield was picked to finish sixth behind defending MAAC Champion Siena in first, Rider in second, Iona third, Le Moyne fourth and Marist fifth. Niagara, Canisius and St. Peter's round out the eighth, ninth and tenth spots, respectively. The Stags finished at 23-23 overall last year and 13-13 in MAAC play. The 23 wins tied a program record. Head Coach John Slosar, now in his 16th season at the helm of the Stags, returns 20 letterwinners, including seven position starters and seven pitchers from that squad. They will open up the 2000 slate at the University of San Francisco where they will play four games with the Dons between March 3 - 5.

    2000 MAAC Baseball                       2000 MAAC Baseball
 Pre-Season Coaches Poll                     Pre-Season Team
1.  Siena           84      Name          Position    School
2.  Rider           73      Anthony Ambrosini   Catcher         Marist
3.  Iona            70      Steve O'Sullivan    Second Base Marist
4.  Le Moyne        61      Mike Lorento    Third Base  Manhattan
5.  Marist          57      Casey Saucke    Short Stop  Le Moyne
6.  Fairfield   47      Tom Lopusznick  Outfield    Fairfield
    Manhattan   47      Nick Spera          Outfield    Siena
8.  Niagara         22      Ryan Finn           Outfield    Siena
9.  Canisius    18      Jason Kalle         DH          Iona
10. St. Peter's 15      Kevin Barry         Pitcher         Rider