Stags Senior Bill Rafferty runs the bases. (Peter Caty/The Mirror)
There’s a new all-time strikeout king at Fairfield University and his name is Rob Gariano. The two time MAAC all-first team recipient will now officially go into the Fairfield history books. The senior surpassed Keefe Catos’ record of 239 K’s set over 30 years ago by fanning St. Peter’s Mike Pearson in the eighth inning of the first game of Saturday’s MAAC doubleheader.
Unfortunately he also surrendered a three run homer in the same inning that put the Peacocks in front to stay. He allowed six runs on eleven hits in the defeat and remains winless on the year supporting a 0-3 record. The Stags dropped their first conference game of the 2010 season, 7-5.
After erupting for 24 runs against the University of Hartford, only some of the Stags stayed on their hitting ways, namely Marco Garmella who collected two hits with 3 RBIs and the rookie Anthony Hajjar who had his second straight three hit performance.
This marks the first time that the Stags dropped their conference opener since 2005. But the Stags have sure shown that a strong start is worthless without a strong finish.
Last year the Stags swept the Siena Saints to open their MAAC slate of games only to finish the year 10-14 and losers of 8 out of their final 11 games and missed yet another MAAC tournament.
Fairfield got back on the winning track in the second game. Led by solid pitching performances by Sam Robertson and freshmen Mark Bordonaro, the Stags edged the peacocks 3-2. Robertson scattered two hits over nearly 6 innings of work and only relinquished two unearned runs.
The Stags were led by their offense leader, Tucker Nathans who drove in a run in the win. Bordonaro remains perfect in his rookie campaign with a 4-0 record.
The Stags looked to take the series in the rubber game but the bats of St. Peters proved too much as they exploded for 11 runs and downed the Stags 11-7. Gavin McCullough picked up his second straight loss of the season as he struggled through 4.1 innings giving up six earned runs on 10 hits. Nathans and Bill Rafferty both racked up 2 hits in the losing effort.
Fairfield enjoyed a measure of success against St. Peters in the last 2 years combining for a 5-1 record. The Stags have lost the season series to the Peacock, who finished in eight place in the MAAC a season ago for the first time since 2007. The series drops the Stags to 8-11 on the year.
Nathans won the MAAC Player of the Week Award on Monday after hitting .500 (11-for-22) this past week in five games, driving in 13 runs , including a school record nine against Hartford. Nathans is hitting .308 with a team-high 19 RBi this season.
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