April 23, 2004
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Fairfield University baseball team will travel to Western New York over the weekend to face Niagara University in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) weekend series, at John P. Bobo Field, in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Fairfield is 10-16 overall, and 5-7 in the MAAC, after falling to Yale on Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday, the Stags picked up its first win against a Big East opponent since the 2000 season, with a 4-3 win over the University of Connecticut.
Niagara enters the weekend with a 14-16 overall record, and a solid 8-2 mark in the MAAC. Earlier this week, the Purple Eagles split a doubleheader against Akron, falling 9-5 in the first game, but taking the nightcap, 1-0, on Tuesday.
All-Time vs. Niagara... Before this weekend the Stags and Purple Eagles, have met 17 previous times, with Fairfield leading 13-4. Last year, Fairfield took two-of-three against Niagara in a late March series at Alumni Diamond. Fairfield won the first game 12-6, but fell in the second 11-4. In the rubber-match Fairfield took a 5-4 decision.
Quick Hits... Against Connecticut freshman Ed Kamintzky (Astoria, N.Y./Regis) picked up his third win of the season on Tuesday against Connecticut, pitching four innings of shutout relief. He held the Huskies hitless, while striking out four batters on the day ... On Wednesday against Yale, senior Nick Hudyma (New Britain, Conn./New Britain) stole his 14th base of the season. Hudyma also collected three hits, along with a run scored and a run batted in. In addition, he leads the team with 31 hits, and 10 multiple-hit games this season ... Sophomore Doug Anderson (Randolph, N.J./Delbarton) leads the team with a .385 on-base percentage, and is second in runs batted in with 17. Anderson is tied with Hudyma for the team's batting lead with a .287 batting average ... With the loss against Yale on Wednesday, the Stags home record falls to 6-7 overall. Against MAAC opponents the Stags are 5-4. On the road, Fairfield is 0-3 in the MAAC after falling to Siena last weekend ... The Fairfield pitching staff has given up the least amount of homeruns in the MAAC according to the latest MAAC rankings with games played through April 19. The Stags have surrender eight homers, and also have the least amount of walks with 60. Fairfield pitchers also have the second lowest runs allowed (145), second lowest earned runs allowed (108), and second lowest hits allowed (225) ... Sophomore Tom Arpino (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) has thrown out six of the last seven base runners who have attempted a stolen base. He has thrown out 10 runners so far this year.
On the Farm... Former Fairfield University pitcher, Ryan Holsten '01 is pitching for the Lancaster Jethawks (A) a California League affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. With games played through April 22, he is 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA. The Delaware native has started two games, pitching nine innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on seven hits. His next start is scheduled for Friday April 23, against Inland Empire.
Around the MAAC... In other MAAC action this weekend Iona travels to Siena for a three-game series, while LeMoyne hosts Manhattan, in Syracuse, N.Y. Rider will join the Stags in Western New York, with a three-game series at Canisius. Rounding out the conference slate this weekend is Saint Peter's heading to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to meet Marist.
Looking Ahead... After this weekend's series with the Purple Eagles, the Stags will play their final non-conference games of the season, before heading to Iona College May 1-2. Fairfield will welcome Fordham on April 28 to Alumni Diamond, and Stony Brook the next day. First pitch for the mid-week games is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
