April 9, 1999
Fairfield, Conn. - Prior to the 1999 season Tom Lopusznick (Leonardo, NJ), a junior right fielder on the Fairfield University baseball team, was the baseball star in the family. Fraternal twin brother Jim Lopusznick (Leonardo, NJ) had stolen the spotlight in the fall season for the last three years, starring as the Stags' quarterback and leading the football team to the 1998 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championship. This spring, Jim is giving his brother a run for his money on the baseball diamond.
After seeing limited time as a reserve outfielder in 1997, Jim earned the starting center field job in 1998 where he gunned down three runners taking extra bases, finished third on the squad with 31 runs scored, connected for three home runs and collected four stolen bases in five attempts. Heading into this weekend's conference twin-bills at MAAC North opponents Marist and LeMoyne, Jim, the Stags' table-setter in the lead-off spot, leads the Stags in batting (.390 - 7th in MAAC) and on base percentage (.505 - 1st in MAAC), second with 21 RBI and second with 11 stolen bases.
That's not to say Tom hasn't kept up his end of the one-two punch with Jim. Actually, Tom has been placed in the clean-up or three spot all year long where he has been clearing the bases for the Stags once again. Through the Stags' first 24 games, Tom is right behind Jim in batting at .354, leads the team and MAAC with with seven home runs, and leads the Stags in RBI with 26 (5th in MAAC), slugging percentage at .709, and stolen bases with a perfect 21-for-21 (3rd in MAAC). Going into this weekend's games, Tom already ranks 1st all-time at Fairfield with a .614 career slugging percentage, 3rd all-time with 22 home runs, 4th all-time with a .345 batting average and 4th all-time with 113 RBI.
While the overall season and career stats look intimidating to opposing pitchers, the numbers that the Lopusznicks have put up against MAAC opponents this year alone are just as impressive. Through 10 league games Tom has posted a blistering .471 batting average, a .971 slugging percentage, hit four home runs, driven in 15 and is a perfect 10-for-10 in stolen bases. Jim's power numbers in league games aren't up there with Tom's, but he has jump-started the Stag offense with a .371 batting average, scored 11 runs, driven home eight and posted a .465 on base percentage. These numbers combined with the rest of the Stags have the team batting average at .338 against league opponents as they have compiled a 5-5 MAAC mark.
Fairfield carries a 12-13 overall record into this weekend's contests. After a 1-8 southern trip, Tom and Jim Lopusznick have been key components to turning the season around as Fairfield has won 11 of its last 16 games. The Stags' 5-5 MAAC record places them third in the MAAC South, just two games behind second place Iona (5-3) and three behind first place Rider (6-2).
