NIAGARA UNIV, N.Y. – Conference play picks back up for the Niagara Purple Eagles when they host the Fairfield Stags on Saturday and Sunday at Bobo Field.
 
Niagara (9-19; 2-5 MAAC) is 2-3 in its last five games overall, but have plenty of positives to build on heading into the weekend. Pitching and defense stood tall in Wednesday's 2-1 win over St. Bonaventure. Freshmen Cody Eckerson and Kevin Lucas combined to give up just four hits over seven innings. Eckerson, who pitched six innings in the start, struck out eight while only walking two batters. 
 
In last Sunday's 5-2 over Quinnipiac, Jordan Schwartz started on the mound and posted a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8/3 while Lucas and Geoff Soja combined for 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball out of the bullpen. Both runs scored by the Bobcats were unearned.
 
Fairfield (14-13; 6-2 MAAC) enter the weekend in third place in the MAAC after going 8-2 in its last 10 games. Jake Salpietro leads the Stags with 22 RBIs on the year and Ryan Plourde takes the top spot with a .333 batting average. Mike Wallace and EJ Ashworth have both started seven games on the mound for Fairfield and have a 4.91 and 4.00 ERA, respectively. Wallace has posted a 28:9 strikeeout:walk ratio so far this season.
 
The series begins with a doubleheader on Saturday followed by a single nine-inning game on Sunday. First pitch on both days is scheduled for noon.