POMONA, N.Y. – Fairfield used an eight-run eighth to pull away from Manhattan to take game one 12-4 on Thursday.
After an hour weather delay in the middle of the sixth and neither team scoring in the seventh, Fairfield sent 13 batters to the plate in the eighth. With the bases loaded and one away, the Stags got RBI hits from Matt Bergevin, Matt Zaffino, and Colin Kelly to build an 8-4 lead.
After getting a run on a wild pitch, Evan Berta singled through the right side to make it 10-3. Two batters later, Ryan Strollo doubled to right-center to make it 12-3 Fairfield (17-14, 7-3 MAAC).
Before the rain came, the Jaspers scored once in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to cut the deficit to 4-3 after the fifth.
In the third, a double, a hits batsman, and a walk loaded the bases for
Trevor Santos. The left fielder worked a two-out walk to force in the first Manhattan (15-15, 6-4) run. After the Jaspers tied the game in the fourth,
Matt Padre scored on a
Dolan Ocasal RBI single to left field in the fifth to make it a 4-3 game.
After
Will Hesslink started for the Jaspers,
John Farley and
Jeff Long were needed to get through the eighth. Farley allowed six runs over 1.2 innings of relief and Long surrendered the final two of the inning.
Jake Noviello started for the Stags. After he left with two outs in the fifth, the Jaspers were limited to just two hits for the rest of the game.
Four different Jaspers scored and Ocasal was the lone Jasper with multiple hits.
Game two of the series is Friday at 2 p.m. at Clover Stadium.
