Nieto, Gariano and Hajjar Earn MAAC Baseball Weekly Honors
MAAC Sports
MAAC Player of the Week
KEVIN NIETO, MANHATTAN
Senior, OF, 5-9, 182, Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus
Nieto hit .556 (10-18), drove in eight runs and had three steals to help Manhattan take three of four games at Delaware last weekend. He scored six runs, had two doubles and blasted his first home run of the season. Nieto recorded a .833 slugging percentage and .636 on-base percentage. His best game of the series was in the Jaspers' 17-12 victory in game two. The senior centerfielder from Miami hit 5-for-6 in the game with three RBI and two doubles. Nieto also had two hits and two runs in each of the last two wins, and in the 18-8 game four victory he drove in three runs.
MAAC Pitcher of the Week
ROB GARIANO, FAIRFIELD
Senior, RHP, 5-10, 180, Nutley, N.J./Nutley
Gariano held Valparaiso in check throughout most of his start on Sunday. In eight innings of work, he scattered an unearned run on four hits with six strikeouts. After allowing a hit and a walk to the first two batters of the game, he set down 10 straight batters. Gariano kept the Crusaders off the board until the seventh inning when a Fairfield error led to an unearned run. He received the no-decision as the Stags won the game 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, after he had been lifted.
MAAC Rookie of the Week
ANTHONY HAJJAR, FAIRFIELD
Freshman, 1B, 6-1, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian
In two games, both Fairfield victories, Hajjar went a combined 6-for-8 (.750) with four runs scored and an RBI. In the Stags' 2-1 victory over Valparaiso, he delivered a game-tying homerun, the first of his career. Hajjar was 3-for-4 and a double short of the cycle against the Crusaders. In the Stags' 12-6 win against Lehigh, he went 3-for-4, was hit by a pitch, and crossed the plate three times.