March 22, 2004
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - With last weekend's doubleheaders against Stony Brook and Albany, postponed due to a snow covered Alumni Diamond, the Fairfield University baseball team will host a pair of mid-week games, before hosting Marist College for the first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) series of the season, March 27-28.
The Stags will meet St. John's on March 23, and Central Connecticut State, on March 24. The pair of home games is a part of a five-game home stand for the Stags. First pitch for both games is slated for 3 p.m.
Sophomore Doug Anderson (Randolph, N.J./Delbarton) is leading the Stags with a .333 batting average. The New Jersey native smacked three homeruns and has driven in nine base runners. He has a .792 slugging percentage, and a .407 on-base percentage.
Senior Nick Hudyma (New Britain, Conn./New Britain) is second on the team with a .250 batting average. Hudyma has collected seven hits, and scored six runs so far this season. Senior Sal Mancuso (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) is hitting .240 with two doubles, and three runs batted in. Both Anderson and Mancuso are riding five-game hitting streaks entering this week's action.
On the hill, senior Tom Maisano (Farmingdale, N.Y./Chaminade) has a 1-0 record, with a 2.77 ERA to lead the Fairfield pitching staff. The Long Island native needs only one more strikeout to record the 150th of his career. He is currently in fifth place on the school's all-time strikeout list with 149.
Up first for the Stags, who spent last week in Florida going 2-3, is St. John's on Tuesday, March 23. The Red Storm are 5-8 overall, as of Friday afternoon. Blake Hershelman is hitting .440, and is tied for the lead in the Big East in homeruns with four, second in total bases (39), tied for sixth in hits (22), fifth in on-base percentage, (.509) and is third in slugging percentage (.783).
The Red Storm are scheduled to take on FDU for a three-game series March 20-21, however the weather could play havoc in the series. St. John's took two of three games on the road from UNC-Asheville, March 12-14, winning the last two 9-7, and 7-1.
The next day, Fairfield hosts in-state rival Central Connecticut State for a 3 p.m. first pitch on Alumni Diamond. Central Connecticut is 5-3-1 on the season as of March 19, and opened Northeast Conference (NEC) action over the weekend in Maryland, against Mt. St. Mary's.
Keith Stebauer is leading the Blue Devils with a .435 batting average, with nine runs batted in and five doubles in 39 at-bats. Scott Vitelli is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA. In 11.0 innings of work he has struck out eight batters, and yielded only six hits.
