FAIRFIELD, CT- Monmouth Baseball cut into the Fairfield lead late in both games, but ultimately dropped a doubleheader at Fairfield Saturday afternoon, falling 15-9 and 7-6 in a pair of contests. Shaine Hughes (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) had seven hits on the day, while Chris Gaetano (Madison Township, PA/Scranton Preparatory) homered in both games of the twinbill.

In the opener, Fairfield jumped to an 8-0 lead before MU answered with runs in the fourth and fifth, including an RBI single from Dan Shea (Wilmington, DE/Salesianum), one of three runs batted in for Shea on the game. Dan Hopkins and Drew Arciuolo homered in the fifth for the Stags to go up 12-2, and eventually took a 15-3 advantage.

MU scored six times in the final two innings, three in each frame, getting RBI's from six different people to make it 15-9, the eventual final score.

The Stags took a 5-0 lead with a five-run first inning in game two, getting two-run singles from both Mac Crispino and Troy Scocca to grab the early lead. MU answered with a run when Dan Abate (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) tripled home Gaetano, and got within a run in the third when Hughes and Gaetano both hit home runs, with Gaetano's a three-run shot to make it 6-5.

In the seventh and Monmouth's final at bat, MU loaded the bases and scored on Pete Papcun (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy)'s RBI single to make it 7-6 Fairfield. The Stags were able to turn a double play to end the game and secure the doubleheader sweep.

NOTES AND QUOTES

“We battled all day and never gave up. We dug a big hole in both games, but showed a lot of fight and we need to stay positive and attack the next game.” – head coach Dean Ehehalt

-Chris Gaetano homered in both games of the doubleheader.
-Hughes posted his second four-hit game of the season, and first since 3/3 vs. William and Mary.
-Gaetano is now tied with Dan Shea for second on the team in home runs with six.
-MU was swept in a doubleheader for just the second time this year.
-Monmouth's 19 hits in the opener mark a season-high.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Shaine Hughes totaled seven hits in the two games.
-Kyle Ajjan took the loss in the first game to fall to 2-3 on the year.
-Chris Hawryluk threw a scoreless eighth inning in the first game.
-Drew Arciuolo drove in seven runs in the first game for Fairfield.
-Tyler Ksiazek took the loss in the second game.
-Ben Hoffman fired 2.1 shutout, hitless innings in the second game.
-Monmouth outhit Fairfield 19-17 in the first game and 12-8 in the second.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth takes on Fairfield tomorrow at 12:00 pm in the series finale.