After walking away from the 2024 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship Series with empty hands, the Fairfield University baseball team is out for redemption. Set to begin their season this Friday, the Stags only have 13 games out of the MAAC to warm up before hitting the ground running on a new championship campaign.
The Stags are not new names in the MAAC, as they’ve reached the championship series for the past two seasons as well as on four out of their last five opportunities to do so.
Individual achievements of theirs headline the conference; the Stags earned eight all-MAAC selections in 2024. Returning players Dean Ferrera ‘25 and Matt Bucciero ‘26 earned First Team honors, Luke Nomura ‘26 was selected for the Second Team. Sophomore and right-handed pitcher Ben Alekson was honored as an All-Rookie team selection.
Some additional Stags to keep an eye on include infielder Nick Sturino ‘25, who was named an All-Star of the Futures League this summer along with right-handed pitcher and teammate, Jimmy Mulvaney ‘27. Junior catcher JP Kuczik was also an All-Star for the East Coast Collegiate Baseball League. This trio will look to translate their summer successes over into the regular season as the Stags aim to make it back to the MAAC Championship Series.
“I think we will win a MAAC championship and that’s all our team is focused on. We’ve worked hard and prepared through our pre-season work,” Sturino noted optimistically.
According to the official press release announcing the schedule for 2025, Head Coach Bill Currier acknowledged the challenges of the road ahead, “Our schedule is setup with the intent to challenge us with very competitive schools and preparing us for a quicker MAAC starting date in early March this year.”
Recent changes to the roster also poses a unique challenge for Fairfield, “Our team will have a shorter time to figure things out before jumping into MAAC play, so making use of these games and deciding on lineups and staff spots will be important.”
A key addition to the team is John Lagerfeldt, a new volunteer assistant coach with four years of coaching experience. Lagerfeldt’s last two years of experience were with the University of Bridgeport, where he was in charge of refreshing the team’s offense as well as baserunning, infield defense, first and third base. Along with coaching expertise comes his experience with recruiting software and analytics for the sport, which is increasingly valuable as baseball is becoming more quantified than ever.
Eight first-years have been added to the roster this year, including two outfielders, two infielders and three additions to the pitching staff.
Shortstop Nolan Colby from Amherst, New Hampshire was ranked fifth overall in the state and first for shortstops in the 2024 class.
Left-handed pitcher Nick Kelly is from South Burlington, Vermont, and shared that his commitment to Fairfield was a “dream come true” as he’s dreamt about the College World Series from a young age.
Sturino shared his confidence in the new class of first-years, “The freshmen have really embodied our team culture and are hungry for a championship.”
The mix of old and new will be the overlying theme of the Stags’ season, but it’s shaping up to be a season marked with confidence and fresh arms ready to reclaim and build upon past successes. “I think we’ve built a really strong team. We have a lot of upperclassmen who have been contributors for us over the last two or three years who are going to have a big impact on our success,” Sturino noted.
The Stags’ first game will be streaming on ESPN+, and Fairfield fans alike will be able to welcome home the team on Wednesday, March 19th at 3:00 pm at Don ‘63 and Chris ‘88 Cook Field.
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