Baseball

May 3, 1999

Overall:  23-23      MAAC:  13-13

This Week - The Stags will finish out the regular season with a non-conference game at the University of Rhode Island on Tuesday at 3:30 pm.

Last Time Out - The Stags split a pair of MAAC games with MAAC North champion Siena College on Sunday. The Stags used a four-run seventh inning to pull off a 5-4 win in the opener and nearly repeated the feat in the nightcap, but fell short 7-5. Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh in the first game, Fairfield took advantage of two Siena errors to push across the first three runs and knot the game at 4-4. That set the table for cleanup hitter Tom Lopusznick (Leonardo, N.J.) who drove home Cristian Jung (Brewster, N.Y.) with the game-winning run. Joe Bruderek (3-5, Norristown, Penn.) picked up the win for the Stags, tossing one and a third inning of relief and not allowing a run. Sean Easton (Levittown, N.Y.) was a perfect 3-for-3 for Fairfield. Todd Donovan paced Siena going 3-for-4. Four other Saints collected three hits in the game. The Stags almost pulled off another come from behind effort in the nightcap. Siena led 7-3 going into the bottom of the seventh when the Stags mounted another rally. After a one out walk to Jim Lopusznick (Leonardo, N.J.), Siena starter Jeff Reardon (3-3) hit Cristian Jung. Reardon was then replaced by Jason Kiser whos first pitch to Paul Macchio (Carmel, N.Y.) got away from catcher Corey Blair, allowing the runners to advance one base. Kiser induced Macchio into an infield pop up before Tom Lopusznick came through again with a single to right field to drive in Jim Lopusznick and Jung. Kiser then ended the threat by getting Ryan Bittner (Emerson, N.J.) to fly out to left field. Sean Easton had another solid game for the Stags going 2-for-3 with a double. Ryan Finn collected three hits in four at bats for Siena and drove in three runs.

Record Chasers - The Stags now have 120 stolen bases this season, breaking the programs old single season record of 118 set by the 1977 team. The Stags have six players with 10 stolen bases or more and eight with at least six. Fairfield batters have already set a program record by being hit by a pitch 45 times. Theyve also set records for stolen base attempts with 153 and strikeouts with 295. The Stag pitching staff has set a single season record by recording 48 hit batsmen. The Stags 23 wins this year has tied the programs single season record for victories set by the 1992 team and tied by the 1995 team. Fairfield has scored 286 runs this year, just eight shy of the program record of 294 set by the 1997 team. Their 22 sacrifice flies has tied the single season mark set in 1996 and tied in 1997. The pitching staff has also set a program record by hitting 52 opposing batters. That number shatters the old mark of 43 set by the 1996 team.

Drop an Anchor - Stag pitchers have curtailed opponents running games by picking off 15 runners. Ryan Holsten (Wilmington, Del.) leads the staff with eight pickoffs. Steve Colcord has picked off four. Opponents have stolen just two bases off of Holsten and only five against Colcord. Catcher Sean Easton has thrown out 38% of attempted base stealers this year.

Whos Hot - In four games last week, Paul Macchio batted .500 (8-for-16) with an .812 slugging percentage and a .529 on base percentage. Against UConn he went 3-for-4 with two RBI and had a hit in all four games. Joe Bruderek made two appearances last week, earning two wins. Against UConn on Tuesday he scattered seven hits in 7 and 2/3 innings in a 5-4 win. On Sunday he earned a win by tossing one and a third inning of scoreless relief.

Stag Leaders - Tom Lopusznick has taken over the team lead with a .333 batting average. He also leads in home runs (10), RBI (42), slugging percentage (.585), on base percentage (.446) and stolen bases (33). Reliever Jim Gale has taken over the team lead with a 4.15 ERA. Steve Colcord leads the starters with a 4.21 ERA.

Coachs Corner - Head Coach John Slosar is in his 15th season at the helm of the Stags and carries a career record of 270-305-6 into Tuesdays contest. Before taking over the reigns in 1984, Slosar served as an assistant coach at Fairfield for eight years. All totaled, since coming to Fairfield, Slosar has helped the Stags to one MAAC Championship, four MAAC South titles, six ECAC playoff appearances and ten 20-win seasons. In the last five years, Slosar has led the Stags to four seasons of 20 wins or more and two MAAC South Championships, including the 1997 South crown. For his efforts in 1997, he was named MAAC South Coach of the Year.