FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The next chapter in the storybook season of the 2016 Fairfield University baseball team will be set in Lubbock, Texas. For the first time in program history the MAAC Champion Stags saw their name revealed in the NCAA Selection Show and it appeared in Lubbock Regional alongside host and fifth-ranked Texas Tech, New Mexico, and Dallas Baptist. The Stags’ Road to Omaha will begin on Friday at 3pm when they take on the host of the regional in 41-16 Red Raiders on ESPN3.
“It’s very special to see our name up there,” Head Coach Bill Currier said. “It’s a special tournament and we have the ability to play teams that are not in our region. We are looking forward to the challenge. It’s a great experience for the players to have their first taste of a national postseason.”
The fifth-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders are coming off their first Big-12 regular season championship since 1997. It will be the first time in program history that these two teams have played each other. The Red Raiders are hitting nearly .300 as a team, led by the Big-12 Player of the Year in senior first baseman Eric Gutierrez, who leads the squad with 12 homers and 53 RBI. He became the first Texas Tech player in 19 years to win the conference Player of the Year award.
The New Mexico Lobos travel into Texas after winning the Mountain West Conference for the sixth time in the nine years under Head Coach Ray Birmingham. The Lobos also can say they have the conference Player of the Year in Carl Stajduhar who was the Tony Gwynn Player of the Year after .348 with 18 homers and 66 RBI.
Dallas Baptist Patriots claimed the Missouri Valley Conference title after posting a 41-17 record. The Patriots roster featured the MVC Player of the Year Darick Hall who hit an even .300 with a team-high 18 homers and 68 RBI. Colin Poche was named the MVC Pitcher of the Year and claims an unblemished 9-0 record with a 2.02 ERA with hitters batting .209 against the southpaw.
Lubbock, Texas is the furthest west the MAAC Champions could have traveled. Head Coach Bill Currier will coach in his first Regional game in his 27-year head coaching career and the first since he was a graduate assistant at Western Carolina in 1985. Not only are the Stags coming off their first-ever MAAC tournament, the squad also tied a program record with 32 victories this season.
The Stags will start the double elimination tournament on Friday at 3pm on ESPN3. The winner of the Lubbock Regional will advance to the Super Regionals and play the winner of the Charlottesville Regional.