April 15, 2005
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Fairfield University baseball team (6-20, 4-5 MAAC) hosts Siena College (9-13, 4-2 MAAC) this weekend for a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) series. Saturday, the Stags and Saints will play a doubleheader with first pitch slated for 12 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday with a nine-inning game slated to start at 12 p.m.
Rudolph Ranked: Freshman right fielder, Brian Rudolph (Washington Township, N.J./Bergen Catholic) is ranked sixth in the NCAA statistical rankings in doubles per game, according to the latest rankings, released earlier this week.
With games played through April 10, Rudolph was averaging 0.54 doubles per contest; he enters this weekend's series with Siena, averaging 0.54 doubles per game with 14 in 26 games.
Jeff Speights of Dartmouth leads the Nation with 0.67 doubles per game, followed by Scott Sizemore of VCU (0.62), Mike Affronti of Le Moyne (0.56) Treveor Crow of Arizona (0.56), and Chris Johnson of Stetson (0.56).
Rudolph was also second in the MAAC in total bases with games played through last Sunday, with 47. For his first collegiate season, the Bergen Catholic grad has 57 total bases, and a .600 slugging percentage.
He is the team's leading hitter with a .347 batting average, and has two homeruns 16 runs batted in, and 20 runs scored. 18 of his team-high 33 hits this season are of the extra base variety.
Big East Wins: Fairfield and Siena enter this weekend's series with something in common, wins over Big East schools ... Fairfield became the first MAAC team this season with earn a win over a Big East foe, with an 18-13 slugfest at St. John's on March 22 ... Rudolph led the Stags at the plate going 4-for-6 with four runs scored and four runs batted in, while smacking his first collegiate homerun ... Siena beat Connecticut, 6-2, on April 13 ... Fairfield beat Connecticut last season 4-3 to split a twin bill with the Huskies.
Triple-Threat: Earlier this week, Fairfield hit three triples on the road at Fordham University ... Two were in the top of the first inning when junior Doug Anderson ripped his first triple of the season to center, then Rudolph hit his second of the season, roping one to the right centerfield fence ... In the top of the eighth, freshman Adam Chilelli completed the triple-trifecta with a shot to left centerfield.
MAAC Attack: Fairfield is second in the MAAC this season in hitting, in conference games with a team .315 batting average ... Fairfield has also scored the most runs in MAAC games with 70, well ahead of league leading Le Moyne with 57 ... Rudolph is sixth in MAAC conference games with a .441 batting average ... Junior Jim Girolamo is eighth in MAAC games with a .400 batting average, and junior Tom Arpino is 10th with a .394 batting average.
On The Base paths: Anderson leads the MAAC in stolen bases with 12, according to the latest MAAC rankings; released on Monday afternoon ... He is 12-of-13 this season in stolen base attempts.
Streaking: Rudolph extended his hitting streak to five games, with a single against Rhode Island on Wednesday afternoon ... Earlier this season; he had a 10-game streak, from March 19 to April 5, in which he hit .523, going 22-of-42 with 10 runs batted in, nine doubles, a homerun, and 10 runs scored to raise his batting average from .156 to .362 ... On his current streak, he is hitting .400, 8-for-20, with six RBI, and four runs scored.
Bring `Em In: Junior John Scaife leads the MAAC in runs batted in with 27 ... For his career, the Ansonia, Conn., native has driven in 56 heading into this weekend ... In each of the last two season, he has posted 14 and 15 RBI.
On The Air: WVOF (88.5 FM) will broadcast seven dates of Fairfield University baseball this season ... The broadcast slate began on Wednesday's game with Rhode Island ... The Saturday doubleheader will be broadcast live on WVOF (88.5 FM), and on the internet at www.wvof.org. ... The first game of the Yale doubleheader on April 20 be broadcast, as well as the Fordham game on April 27, and the May 7 doubleheader against Iona College.
Around the MAAC: Besides, the Fairfield-Siena series, Canisius visits Rider, Manhattan is at Iona, Le Moyne travels to Marist, and Niagara heads to Saint Peter's for three-game sets.
The Race for the MAAC Pennant: After last weekend's MAAC series Le Moyne is the front runner with a 6-1 MAAC record, Marist is in second place at 7-2, followed by Siena, 4-2; Manhattan 3-2; Niagara 4-3; Rider and Fairfield at 4-5; Canisius, 3-5; Iona, 2-6; and Saint Peter's 1-7.
Up Next:
Fairfield will travel to the University of Connecticut on April 19, for the second game this season against the Huskies ... UConn. defeated the Stags 11-6 at Alumni Diamond on March 31 ... The next day, the Stags head to Yale for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. ... Fairfield returns to Alumni Diamond for a MAAC series against Niagara the weekend of April 23-24.
