Wednesday-Saturday, May 26-29, 2021
MAAC Championship Round
#3 Rider Broncs (20-16)
Location: Fairfield, CT – Alumni Baseball Diamond
Live Video – All Games on ESPN+
Game 1 - #4 Canisius vs. #1 Fairfield – Wednesday 11 a.m.
Game 2 - #3 Rider vs. #2 Monmouth – Wednesday 3 p.m.
Game 3 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – Thursday 11 a.m.
Game 4 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – Thursday 3 p.m.
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser – Friday 11 a.m.
Game 6 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – Friday 3 p.m.
Game 7 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner (If Necessary) – Saturday TBA
Live Stats – FairfieldStags.com (Wednesday) | Remaining Games
Tournament Central – MAACSports.com

How We Got Here
- Rider cruised to the Championship Round of the MAAC Tournament with a sweep of Niagara, winning 12-4 and 8-5.
- The Broncs' offense exploded for 20 runs in the double header, hitting .412 as a team with seven extra-base hits.
- Monmouth advanced to the Championship Round in dramatic fashion. Trailing 4-2 to Siena entering the bottom of the ninth in a winner-take-all game three, Alex Barker hit a walk-off grand slam to send the Hawks forward in the Tournament.
- Elsewhere in the bracket, Fairfield swept Manhattan to clinch hosting rights for the remainder of the tournament and Mike Mazzara went 4-for-4 including a grand slam to push Canisius past Marist in a decisive game three.
 
What You Need To Know
- Third-seeded Rider will open play in the double-elimination tournament against second-seeded Monmouth. Wednesday's first game pairs top-seeded Fairfield against fourth-seeded Canisius.
- All games in the tournament will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
- This year's MAAC Championships were expanded to eight teams, with the first round being contested in a best-of-three series at the higher-seeded team's home field. Each of the top four seeds advanced to the double-elimination tournament, hosted by Fairfield.
- Seeding was determined based on number of wins. Only Fairfield (33) and Monmouth (22) had more wins than Rider (18) this year. Canisius earned the No. 4 seed via a tiebreaker after closing out the regular season with 17 victories.
- Rider and Monmouth split their four meetings this season, a pair of mid-week double headers during which each side won a game.
- Rider also split its four games against Canisius this season, splitting both of the weekend series double headers. Danny Kirwin came out of the pen and allowed a single unearned run to earn a victory on the mound during the four-game set.
- Fairfield swept the Broncs in a four-game series. The Stags held the Rider bats in check, allowing just three runs during the series and compiling three shutouts.
- Pete Soporowski and David Bermudez were named to the All-MAAC Second Team last Wednesday, while Brian Skettini earned MAAC All-Rookie Team honors.
- Soporowski has posted a 6-2 record with a 3.15 ERA and a team-high 55 strikeouts in 54.1 innings pitched. He twice earned MAAC Pitcher of the Week this season, on March 22 and May 3. He's pitched three complete-game shutouts this season, including his last two regular-season outings. The graduate student went seven innings, allowing four runs and striking out three to earn the win in the opening game of the best-of-three series against Niagara on Thursday.
- Soporowski and Frank Doelling are among the nation's leaders in complete games this season. Soporowski ranks sixth in the country, going the distance five times and Doelling is 14^th nationally finishing four of his starts.
- Bermudez leads Broncs who've played 75 percent of Rider's games played with a .293 batting average, .415 slugging percentage and .422 on-base percentage in 27 games played, all starts. He's got seven doubles, 14 runs scored and 12 RBI's. He reached base safely in 13 consecutive games from March 21 through April 10, the second-longest streak of the season for the Broncs.
- Rider's 16 hits in the opening game of the best-of-three series against Niagara are the most in a game for the Broncs this season. Five Broncs had multiple hits in the contest, led by three-hit games from Scott Shaw and Lou Priolo.
- Sean McGeehan stole a base in each of the wins on Thursday over Niagara. McGeehan leads the MAAC with 12 stolen bases on the season. The graduate student also ranks in the top-ten in the conference in doubles (8) and RBIs (27).
- Cal Stalzer pitched the final four innings of the clinching game against Niagara on Thursday, earning his fourth save of the season. The four saves ranks him second in the MAAC, behind only Monmouth's Ryan Steckline.
- Rider last qualified for the MAAC Championships in 2017, while its last MAAC title came in 2010.
- This is Monmouth's sixth MAAC Championship appearance since joining the conference ahead of the 2014 season. The Hawks are 8-11 in MAAC Tournament games.
- The Broncs and Hawks are two of the top teams in the MAAC on the mound. Monmouth's team ERA of 3.01 ranks second in the conference and fourth nationally, and the Bronc's ERA of 4.36 sits fourth in the MAAC and is 71^st in the country.
- MAAC Pitcher of the Year, Rob Hensey, leads a strong rotation for the Hawks, ranking eighth nationally with a 1.54 ERA this season. In seven starts, he is 5-0 with 41 strikeouts and just six walks.
- The eight shutouts by the Monmouth pitching staff this season leads the country. The Hawks had a stretch early in the season during which the team did not allow a run for 34 consecutive innings, spanning across five games.
- Monmouth has been led offensively by Second-Team All-MAAC outfielder Jalen Jenkins. He leads the MAAC with five triples, is fourth in the conference with 40 hits, and is seventh in the league with a .364 batting average.
- Canisius is led by a pair of First-Team All-MAAC selections. First baseman Vinny Chiarenza is third in the conference with nine home runs and 33 RBIs to go along with a .360 batting average. Outfielder Jake Burlingame's 35 runs scored ranks third in the MAAC. He also hit seven home runs and boasts a .663 slugging percentage.
- The Golden Griffins team on base percentage of .413 ranks eighth in the nation.
- Canisius' pitching staff has plenty of arms with eight different players starting a game this season and ten different pitchers throwing over ten innings. The staff has combined for a 4.82 team ERA.
- Fairfield has been dominant for the entirety of the 2021 MAAC baseball season, compiling a 35-1 record entering Wednesday's game against Canisius. The Stags' .972 winning percentage is the best in the country.
- The Stags offense is led by MAAC Player of the Year, Mike Caruso. Caruso leads the conference with a .414 average and .528 on base percentage. The senior catcher has three home runs and six doubles on the season.
- Jake Noviello leads the Fairfield pitching staff with a 1.51 ERA, seventh-best nationally this season. As a team, the Stags own the nation's best team ERA of 2.65.
- Bryson Cafaro earned MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year honors for Fairfield. He has posted a 0.88 ERA across 30.2 innings, striking out 23 and picking up a pair of saves.