May 4, 2007
The baseball team will play its final series at home this weekend as Fairfield takes to Alumni Diamond against conference leader Manhattan. The Stags and the Jaspers will play a doubleheader on May 5 beginning at noon and will conclude the series on May 6 in a Senior Day match-up beginning at noon. Prior to the start of Sunday's game, Fairfield will honor its three seniors, Michael Colucci, Philip Espinosa, and Ed Kamintzky.
Fairfield (13-24, 7-10 MAAC) has won its last three contests and is coming off two big wins against local rivals Sacred Heart and Hartford. In their last two games, the Stags have posted 26 runs on 37 hits. Freshman Jason Rago has had most of those hits, going 8-for-12 with five runs scored and two runs batted in. Junior Peter Allen, who collected three doubles in that time, is one away from tying Fairfield's single season record set by Mike Pike in 1996. Allen leads the team with a .388 batting average along with 30 RBI and 26 runs scored. Manhattan (28-12, 17-0 MAAC) has
Manhattan has captured 25 of its last 27 games, including four-straight contests. Junior Matt Rizzotti leads the Jaspers with .333 batting average and a team-high 35 runs batted in, 31 runs scored, and has drawn 42 walks this season. Senior Nick Derba has crossed the plate 35 times for Manhattan and leads the team with 10 homeruns to go along with 26 RBI. The Jaspers yield a conference-best 3.99 earned run average. Senior Jesse Darcy (7-2), the reigning MAAC Pitcher of the Week posts a 2.09 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 77.2 innings.
Last season, the Stags took two out of three against the Jaspers. Fairfield took the first game by a margin of 1-0 in a pitcher's duel. In the nightcap, the Stags scored four times in the ninth, to win 7-4. Manhattan came back in full force in game three, winning by a score of 10-3. Junior Albie DeSimone has been the most productive Stag against the Jaspers, with four hits, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. On the hill, Kamintzky has logged 15.2 innings against Manhattan with 13 strikeouts. Fairfield holds a 63-26 series advantage.
Saturday is also the last Stags Kids Page event day of the year. Members who bring their May activity sheet and membership card to either the baseball doubleheader or the softball doubleheader at 1 p.m. will receive a free Kids Page Frisbee.
