Fairfield men’s baseball has already played 13 games, but not one of these games was held in the friendly confines of Alumni Diamond. Now nearly three weeks into their season, the field is still covered in snow, forcing the team to hit the road week after week.

If it wasn’t the snow affecting their schedule, it was the temperature. The Stags were set go on the road to take on Georgetown for the first time since 1998 as the first series of the season. But, due to the record low cold temperature, opening weekend at Georgetown was cancelled. This was just the start of the endless cancellations, delays and weeks on the road.

During spring break, the Stags were finally able to get out on a baseball field, but it wasn’t in the Northeast. Every year, the baseball team travels down to Florida for a tournament and being in Florida was an adjustment.

“When we went to Florida, it was the first time we had spikes on the dirt this season and it was a change for the pitchers because it was the first time they had thrown from the dirt mound,” said head coach Bill Currier. “They get acclimated, but it’s a big change to go from turf to dirt.”

Just last week, the Stags had a scheduled home game against St. John’s but due to the snow, the game was moved to Long Island, where Fairfield was forced to be the away team.

The Stags were finally going to play as the home team, but not on their home field. This time, the Stags played at Houlihan Park located in Fordham University, and they were set to take on Manhattan College. But once again, the games were cancelled because of the impending snowstorm in the area. After these two games were cancelled, they were finally able to take the field as the home team against Manhattan where they took one game out of a three game series. The travel can be frustrating, but Currier added that it’s something the team has to deal with.

“They get frustrated just like everybody else, but everybody else is in the same boat,” said Currier. Nobody is enjoying 50 degree weather outside right now. That’s the good thing, no one is playing really, except for on turf from New Jersey on north.”

Hoping to finally get some playing time at home, the Stags had a game scheduled for Wednesday, March 25 on Alumni Diamond. But because of the most recent snowfall, the game was moved to Hartford, where the snow had melted faster, allowing the field to be groomed and ready for play.

Although traveling can take a toll on student athletes, practicing off of their home field has been the biggest obstacle to overcome.

The team has struggled to hold practice and workouts due to the extremely cold conditions and the constant snowfall. As a result, the Stags have turned to Insports, located in Trumbull, Conn., as an alternative. Here, the Stags have come to use the full infield and a partial outfield. However, there’s nothing that can compare to playing out on the field.

“It’s tough for practice, to practice either in the gym or to be on a big open turf field is a tough thing,” said Currier. “We can only train so much on the skills and mechanics and talk to them about things, but being on a grass field with dirt, instead of the field, is a big change.”

The Stags are hopeful that they will return back to the field soon.

“We certainly hope we’re home here against Iona next weekend, we don’t want to lose two conference home series,” said Currier. “We’re optimistic that the weather is going to turn around at the end of this week.”

 

With the weather getting warmer and warmer, the Stags expect to practice more frequently without any obstacles. The Stags look like they will hold their first official home game in Alumni Diamond on Wednesday, April 1 against NYIT.

 

 

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