March 31, 2005
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Finally the Fairfield University baseball team will play a home game, as the University of Connecticut visits Alumni Diamond on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
All of the Stags 15 games this season have been on the road, including two of those played at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, in Bridgeport, Conn., last Saturday evening against Marist College.
The Marist twin bill was slated to be played in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but the snowfall last week forced the venue change, and as a result, Marist was the home team in the first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) series of the season.
Although, Fairfield is 2-13 on the season, it has played well, including an 18-13 win over perennially Region powerhouse, St. John's on March 22.
Freshman Brian Rudolph (Washington Township, N.J./Bergen Catholic) led Fairfield at the plate going 4-for-6 with four runs batted in and four runs scored, including his first career homerun. Ten of his 16 hits on the season, have been of the extra base variety, and he has risen his batting average from .171 to a team-leading.320 entering Thursday's game.
Rudolph has one homerun, five runs batted in, and 10 runs scored. Junior John Scaife (Ansonia, Conn./Ansonia) is second on the team with a .271 batting average with one homerun and nine runs batted in.
The Bergen Catholic grad, has hit safely in each of the last six games, joining sophomore Brian Schappert (Wyckoff, N.J./St. Joseph's) and junior Jim Girolamo (Wayland, Mass./Wayland), who each have four-game hitting streaks, entering the game with the Huskies.
Fairfield is leading the MAAC in fielding percentage with a .971 mark.
Connecticut is ranked No. 6 in the latest CollegeBaseballInsider.com Northeast Coaches Poll, and has a 14-6 record, after falling to Yale, 1-0 on Wednesday. The Huskies, who have yet to play at home, are 9-1 on neutral fields, and 5-5 on the road.
Following the meeting with the in-state rivals, the Stags will host Saint Peter's College in a MAAC series at Alumni Diamond on Saturday and Sunday. The teams are scheduled for a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m., and will play a nine-inning game on Sunday with first pitch slated for 12 p.m.
