POMONA, NY (May 26, 2023) – No. 2 Rider University and No. 1 Fairfield University will battle it out in the 2023 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Baseball Championship Series tomorrow afternoon at Clover Stadium in Pomona, NY. The Broncs and Stags secured their spots in the championship series with Rider defeating Fairfield in the winner’s bracket final, before the Stags bounced back by knocking Quinnipiac University out in the loser’s bracket, to secure its spot in the final.
No. 2 Rider 6 | No. 1 Fairfield 3
Clover Stadium | POMONA, NY
Box Score
Leading off the day in the winner’s bracket final, No. 2 Rider (34-18) held off top-seeded Fairfield (35-17), 6-3. The difference in the outing was the Broncs plating two runs in both the second and third innings to take control of the game. Erich Hartmann drove in the game’s first run with an RBI single, followed by a sacrifice fly by John Volpe in the second. In the third, Luke Lesch hit an RBI single up the middle for the third run, and the rally ended with Lesch scoring on Socrates Bardatsos’ single to right center. Rider added one in the sixth to take a commanding 5-1 lead. Through the six innings, lefty starting pitcher Brian Young, had no earned runs, struck out four, walked none, and only allowed five hits. The Stags didn’t go away easily and got a pair of runs back in the bottom of the eighth when 2023 MAAC Player of the Year, Charlie Pagliarini, sent a two-run blast over the right field fence, cutting the deficit to 5-3. Following the homer, Rider put 2023 MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year, Danny Kirwin on the mound a third of the way through, where he closed out the game by retiring all five batters he faced which included a 1-2-3 ninth inning to save the game.
Rider Notes and Notables
- Kirwin earned his MAAC leading 14th save of the 2023 season, which puts him in a tie for the most in the country.
- Young (6-6) ended up tossing 7.1 innings with four strikeouts, no walks, three runs (two earned), and giving up seven hits.
- Lesch and Jordan Erbe both went 2-for-4, while Brian Skettini was 2-for-5 at the bag.
- Volpe’s two RBIs led the team and Erbe’s two runs scored were the most for the Broncs in the win.
- This is Rider’s third consecutive trip to the championship series and its eighth overall going back to 1999.
- The Broncs will face Fairfield tomorrow at 12:00 pm and will look to win its second MAAC title in three seasons – seeking the program’s fourth overall title.
Fairfield Notes and Notables
- Fairfield leadoff hitter, Griffin Watson was the only Stag with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 in the contest with a run scored.
- Pagliarini had the two-run homer, two RBI, and a run scored to lead Fairfield’s scoring.
- Pagliarini extended his MAAC single-season RBI record to 90 and moved into a third-place tie for the most home runs in a MAAC single season with his 22nd dinger of the campaign.
- On the losing side, All-MAAC First Team pitcher, Colin McVeigh (8-1) was defeated for the first time this year after 2.1 inning of action where he struck out three, but allowed four runs from five hits and four walks.
- In relief, Bowen Baker put in 6.1 innings of work where he also struck out three and gave up five hits and a pair of runs.
No. 4 Quinnipiac 7 | No. 3 Canisius 6
Clover Stadium | POMONA, NY
Box Score
In the afternoon’s first elimination game, it was nothing short of fireworks, as No. 4 Quinnipiac (30-25) ended No. 3 Canisius College (26-25-1) title defense run, edging the Griffs 7-6. The back and forth affair produced five lead changes and four ties. More impressively, all 13 combined runs between the two sides occurred with two outs in the respective inning. Canisius landed the first punch in the battle, plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. After both sides put up goose eggs in the third, Quinnipiac evened up the game for the first time by way of a two-run, three-hit fourth. The Griffs got a run back in the bottom half of the fifth, retaking the lead at 3-2. Things would heat up over the next two innings with the two teams combining to score eight of the contest’s 13 runs. In the top half of the sixth, the Bobcats again sent two players across home plate to jump ahead 4-3. The lead wouldn’t last long as the Griffs struck back with a two-run inning of their own in the bottom half, regaining the lead again at 5-4. The lead would change hands one last time in the top of the seventh, when Quinnipiac collected three runs to take a 7-5 advantage. Canisius got one back in the bottom of the seventh but that would be the last run of the game for either squad.
Quinnipiac Notes and Notables
- Anthony Donofrio (2-of-6), Jared Zimbardo (2-for-5), Keegan O’Connor (2-for-4), and McGwire Tuffy (2-for-4) all had a pair of hits at the plate for the Bobcats.
- Kyle Maves led the way with two runs batted in, while scoring one run.
- Sean Swenson scored a pair of runs and had an RBI in the win.
- Matt DeRosa had one RBI and one run additionally.
- The winning pitcher was Tim Blaisdell (5-7) who had two strike outs, five runs, nine hits, six innings.
Canisius Notes and Notables
- Carlin Dick was the most successful Griff at the plate in the defeat, going 2-of-4 with a pair of RBIs and a single run scored.
- RBIs were also tallied by Max Grant, Jackson Strong, Kyler Kush, and Ty Wevers.
- Canisius used three arms, that combined to strikeout nine hitters, while giving up 11 hits, five walks, and six earned runs.
No. 1 Fairfield 12 | No. 4 Quinnipiac 4
Clover Stadium | POMONA, NY
Box Score
No. 1 Fairfield ran past Connecticut rival, No. 4 Quinnipiac 12-4, in the final elimination game of the championship. Leading 2-1 in the second, Charlie Pagliarini continued his historic campaign with a grand slam blast to right field, extending Fairfield’s lead to 6-1. Two innings later, Pagliarini went back-to-back, this time sending a three-run bomb over the right field wall which extended the Stags lead to 9-1. The Bobcats would get two back later in the game, cutting its deficit to 10-4 but Fairfield made up the pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, leading to the eight-run win.
Fairfield Notes and Notables
- Pagliarini finished the night 2-for-4 with his two homers, seven RBIs, and three runs scored.
- The seven RBIs tied his career-high.
- Pagliarini’s MAAC single-season RBI record extended to 97 – second in the nation – and he took sole possession of second-place on the MAAC single season home run charts with his 24 dingers.
- Griffin Watson (2-for-5), Noah Lucier (2-for-3), Matt Bergevin (2-for-4), and AJ Donofrio (2-for-4) led the way in hitting.
- Bergevin and Mike Becchetti both had two RBIs.
- Lucier scored a team-high four runs and Watson scored two.
- Blake Helmstetter (4-1) powered through eight innings, striking out seven batters, while only giving up three earned runs on six hits, in the win.
- Fairfield makes its third championship series over the past four seasons, its sixth overall.
- The Stags are seeking their fifth MAAC title since 1983, their first since 2016.
Quinnipiac Notes and Notables
- Kyle Maves led Quinnipiac with a pair of hits, going 2-of-4.
- Keegan O’Connor led the Bobcats with two runs batted in on a 1-for-3 night.
- McGwire Tuffy had one RBI and one run.
- Four Quinnipiac pitchers took the mound, with Andrew Rubayo being credited with the defeat after two innings of action where he gave up six runs (four earned) while striking out one.
For all information regarding the 2023 MAAC Baseball Championship, please visit
maacsports.com/baseball.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 42nd year of competition during the 2022-23 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan College, Marist College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
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