GAME 1
SCORE	No. 25 Fairfield 10 – Niagara 8
RECORDS	Fairfield (31-1, 32-1 MAAC) - Niagara (16-14, 17-14 MAAC)
LOCATION	Bobo Field

 
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara baseball team dropped a pair of close games to No. 25 Fairfield on Sunday.

Prior to the start of the doubleheader, the Purple Eagles honored the class of 2021; Dawson Bailey, Chaz DeLuca, Matt Grace, Michael Gabriele, Joe Tevlin, Alex Jones, Tyler Prospero, Nate Mascellino, Benny Serrano, Ben Wiegand, Yohn Zapata-Baez, Ben Erwin, Matt Zaremba, Kyle Smyth, Alex MacKinnon, Peter Battaglia and team manager Cameron Dyck.
 
Game Recap

• The Purple Eagles took the lead in the first inning, 2-0, after a single from Serrano plated two runs.
• In the bottom of the second, back-to-back RBI doubles from Mike Brisson and Cole O'Connor and an RBI single from Gabriele extended Niagara's lead, 5-0.
• An RBI single from the Stags in the top of the third inning put them on the board, but NU had a four-run lead, 5-1.
• In the bottom of the fourth frame, Bailey scored on a wild pitch to put Niagara's advantage back at five runs, 6-1.
• The Stags, however, began to pick up momentum, scoring three runs in the fifth, three runs in the sixth and three runs in the seventh to take the lead, 10-6.
• In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs on the board and two runners on base, Bailey singled to center field, scoring Serrano. Brisson then singled to left field, plating Max Giordano to cut Fairfield's lead to two, 10-8. The Stags, however, got the third out to come away with the win.

Eagle's Eye On

• Gabriele led the Purple Eagles in hits with three. Brisson added two hits. NU had 11 hits overall.
• Brisson and Serrano led the team in RBIs with two each.
• Bailey's hit in the seventh was his 100^th career hit. He also had a team-high two stolen bases.
• Steven Hospital (2-1) took the loss. He gave up two hits and three earned runs in 0.2 innings pitched.
• Drew Patton started in the no-decision. He fanned three and allowed two earned runs on five hits in 4.1 innings pitched.

 
 

GAME 2
SCORE	No. 25 Fairfield 8 – Niagara 5
RECORDS	Fairfield (32-1, 33-1 MAAC) - Niagara (16-15, 17-15 MAAC)
LOCATION	Bobo Field

 
Game Recap

• The Stags took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after a lead-off homerun.
• Niagara answered in the bottom of the first with a lead-off homer from Bailey to tie the score, 1-1.
• An RBI single and a two-run homerun from the Stags in the top of the fourth put them back in the lead, 4-1.
• In the bottom of the fourth, an infield single from Serrano plated one run, cutting Fairfield's lead to two, 4-2.
• An RBI double from Cole Tucker and an RBI single from Gabriele in the bottom of the fifth knotted the score, 4-4.
• The Stags reclaimed the lead in the sixth, 6-4.
• An RBI single from Liam Ward in the bottom of the sixth left Niagara trailing by just one run, 6-5, with three innings to go.
• Fairfield, however, held the Purple Eagles scoreless for the remainder of the game and the Stags added two more runs in the eighth to earn the 8-5 victory.

Eagle's Eye On

• Serrano had a team-high three hits. O'Connor, Tucker and Tevlin each added two hits.
• Serrano had one stolen base.
• Smyth (0-2) took the loss on the mound. He fanned three and gave up two earned runs on three hits in 3.0 innings pitched.
• DeLuca started and struck out four, while allowing four earned runs on four hits in 3.2 innings pitched.

Up Next

• The Purple Eagles will compete next in the MAAC Championships, which are set to begin on May 21. After this weekend's games, Niagara sits in fourth place in the conference standings, which currently puts the team in line to host its quarterfinal series at Bobo Field. Final standings will be determined after all teams have completed regular season play. 

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