Stags Battle In "Baseball At The Beach"

By Billy McGuire Assistant Sports Editor

e Fair eld University baseball team commenced their season this past weekend by participating in the “Baseball at the Beach” bash in Conway, S.C., on the campus of Coastal Carolina University by participating in a three-game set against the likes of Coastal Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and Middle Tennessee State University.

e Stags, coming o of their best o ensive season in program history in which they set program records in runs scored (390), slugging percentage (.483) and home runs (75), came out hungry in their rst game of the three-game set on Friday, Feb. 17 against Coastal Carolina. ey smashed four long balls, two of which came from graduate in elder Gri n Watson, with in elder Mike Becchetti ‘23 and catcher Matt Venuto ‘23 each belting one of their own. Facing a superior program in the Chanticleers, the Stags raced out to a 2-0 lead at the top of the rst inning o of the Becchetti homer before falling behind by six. Watson blasted his rst of two long balls on the day by cutting the lead in half at the top of the h to make it 8-4.

e home-run frenzy would not end there, as Watson and Venuto would hit back-to-back jacks at the top of the seventh to keep the Stags within reach, 13-7. e Stags’ only runs in this contest were scored o of the long balls, but nearly everyone in the starting lineup contributed somewhat o ensively. Seven of the nine starters managed to obtain at least one hit, with the unit getting 10 hits as a whole in the contest. Despite the solid o ensive performance, it wasn’t enough to enth, which put them on the board but still trailed by six. ey failed to score again, as VCU added one more run before the Rams secured the win, 10-3. trounce the Chanticleers, as the Stags dropped their rst contest of the season, 14-7. e Stags faced o against VCU on Saturday, Feb. 18 in their second contest of “Baseball at the Beach”. ey but score run secured 10-3.

Lining up against Middle Tennessee Stags hoping much-needed out endured a rough start, as the Rams managed to tally six runs across the rst two innings, including ve in the rst. Pitcher Jack Erbeck ‘23 was inserted in the third-inning to help cool things down, proceeding to pitch four frames to go along with six strikeouts. He retired nine consecutive batters before VCU added three more to the scoresheet at the top of the sixth to ramp their lead up by nine. Fair eld nally made some noise as Venutto smashed a three-run shot at the bottom of the sev-

Palmetto to the

Tennessee on Sunday, Feb. 19, the Stags were hoping to bolster some much-needed con dence by coming out with a win before departing the Palmetto state. ey managed to get the job done, with the o ense coming up big in a 14-9 victory over the Blue touchdown, 14-7. e rally started when graduate in elder Noah Lucier hit a leado double that proceeded to send him home o of a Watson single. Venuto brought home Lucier o a bunt single, reaching base safely in the process. Pagliarini later hit a two-run double down the right- eld line to increase the lead by four. Bergevin proceeded to obliterate any remaining con dence the Blue Raiders had by demolishing his second long ball of the day to put the Stags send a brought o a bunt single, reaching base safely double increase to ahead by seven. more at the bottom of the ninth, as the rst and third, Becchetti ran towards second and forced the throw, allowing Watson to steal home to put the Stags on the board rst. fourth, as in elder Matt Bergevin ‘24 blasted his rst homer of the season, a two-run bomb that increased the Stags lead to three. A er Middle Tennessee cut the lead to one scoring two at the bottom of the fourth, the Stags rebounded by gaining their three-run lead back, in which out elder Ryan Strollo ‘23 and in elder Charlie Pagliarini ‘23 each belted the rst pitch in the h and sixth innings over the out eld wall, respectively. starter picked up at least one hit, team average of .467 to go along with seven hits. On the mound, Colin McVeigh the nessee rally at the bottom of the seventh that put the Blue Raiders up by two, Fair eld tied the game at the top of the eighth a er a two-run Watson single in which an error was

Raiders. e Stags scored their rst run of the game at the top of the rst by thinking outside-the-box.

Middle Tennessee added two more at the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough, as the Stags achieved their rst win of the season on the heels of an outstanding show put on by the o ensive unit. Every starter picked up at least one hit, with Watson and Pagliarni leading the squad with three apiece.

With runners at and chetti and forced the throw, allowing Watson to steal home to put the Stags on the board rst.

No team scored again until the fourth, blasted his rst homer of the season, a Stags nessee lead at rebounded by gaining their three-run lead back, in which out elder Ryan Strollo ‘23 and in elder Charlie Pagliarini each in over out eld wall, respectively.

Watson also led the team with a superb batting the mound, Colin McVeigh ‘24 got the nod and pitched three scoreless innings to start the ballgame before surrendering two runs in the fourth. Jake Memoli ‘26 made his collegiate debut in the fourth, relieving McVeigh, as the Green Brook, N.J. native pitched 1.2 scoreless innings to go along with just one walk to bring the game to the sixth. Graduate student Luke Marshall picked up the win, entering the game in the eighth inning with two runners in scoring position but would get out of the jam with a groundout to end the e Stags will travel to Washington, D.C. this Friday to take on

By Billy McGuire Assistant Sports Editor

Despite not having an ofcial division one hockey team to call their own, Fair eld University does have a club hockey team. e program has built a winning culture and is consistently one of the top club hockey teams in the nation, thanks in part to a large contingent of players from the Northeast, a hockey-crazed region.

Heading into the Empire Playo s, the squad has compiled a 14-6-1 record, to go along with a 9-2-1 conference record, defeating the likes of Sacred Heart University, Fordham University, Cornell University, and Ramapo College of New Jersey along the way, all of whom are also held in high regard in the club hockey world. ey have scored 111 goals, while giving up 75 to obtain a respectable +36 goal di erential.

e club season is divided into two halves, with the rst half paralleling the fall semester, running from Sep. 23 with a matchup against the University of Delaware, to Dec. 4, in which they faced o against the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. e Stags took the loss to kick o the season, 4-3 in Newark, Del. ey proceeded to go into their winter break on a positive note, defeating Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 8-5 at e Rinks at Shelton in Shelton, Conn. e second half coincides with the spring semester, with the second half of the regular season beginning on Jan. 28 in a tilt against Fordham University in New York, N.Y., before concluding with a battle against Fordham at e Rinks at Shelton. e Stags took the win in the Big Apple, 6-2, before a rematch awaited them approximately three weeks later at their home rink in Shelton. e rematch went strongly in Fair eld’s favor, as they obliterated the Rams, 12-3 in their nal on-ice regular season battle of the season. e Stags now will play host this weekend to the Empire Playo s, with two scheduled games this upcoming weekend against unknown opponents. e Stags have had success in this tournament in the past, with the program taking home an Empire Cup in 2020, according to the club’s o cial Instagram page. e Stags also have a strong

A er a ve-run Middle Tennessee seventh Blue up the top of the eighth a er a two-run Watson single in which an error was committed by Middle Tennessee in the process. ey then put up seven at the top of the ninth, destroying any remaining momentum Middle Tennessee as

Tennessee had le as they went up a fourth. Jake Memoli ‘26 made his collegiate debut in the fourth, relieving just bring the game to the sixth. GraduMarshall win, the in get the jam with a groundout to end the inning. will to George Washington University in a three-game set this weekend. For more information on the Fair eld University baseball team and athletics as a whole, please visit www.fair eldstags.com.