Lisk's single sinks Demons

Cade Lisk?s walkoff single sent the Trojan fans home happy, as the team?s 3-2 victory in game two secured a sweep of a Southeast Conference rival and an undefeated mark in the conference to begin the season.

?They?re used to winning down in the JV program too and it?s nice for them to step in here with that expectation to play the game the right way and have fun,? said Fairfield head coach Josh Allison. ?We?ve got some guys stepping in and playing really well and Cade?s one of them.?

Lisk?s knock was one of only three that Fairfield got in the second game of the twinbill, but it was the biggest one of the night by far. The Trojans were stumped all game by Washington starter Collin Zear, who didn?t allow a single hit until the eighth inning rolled around.

Fairfield did scratch a run off Zear in the first inning to knot it back up after Washington drew first blood in game two. The Demons scored their second run in the fourth inning on an RBI single to left field by Ryan Loy, but a perfectly executed relay from Tristan Ledger through shortstop Jordan Reid cut down the second run at the plate on a nice spinning tag by catcher Kosta Papazaglou, which became a key play as Fairfield needed to rally in the seventh inning off Zear to keep their hopes alive.

Cameron Baumann started the seventh inning with a grounder to short that kicked off the glove of the Demons? shortstop Michael Ellingson. As he recovered and gathered himself, he rushed the throw to first and it went errantly to the fence, allowing Baumann to reach second base. A wild pitch sent the runner to third and Papazaglou drove him in with a grounder to the second baseman to force extra innings.

It was Baumann again in the ninth that started the rally, this time with a solid single off of Zear. Reliever Michael Gier came in to finish the game for Washington and he retired Papazaglou for the out, but not before a pair of wild pitches moved the runner to third base. With the game-winning run on third, Austin Simpson was hit by a pitch. The Fairfield first baseman ran to second, trying to coax Gier into balking in the winning run, but the Washington pitcher stepped off the rubber and allowed the runner to get to second, setting up Lisk?s heroics.

?We hadn?t really had the bats going and Graham [Kuehl] had battled so hard for us on the mound,? said Lisk. ?I was a little nervous when it hit the bat and was hoping it would get through the hole. I knew the celebration was coming; we were pretty confident as a late-game team that we were going to get it and Alex [Crile] had the water ready.

?We all get along really well and we?re good friends and our motto is ?PTR: Pull the rope?; this win really gives us confidence moving forward into the next game.?

Ledger pitched the final inning of the game in relief of Kuehl to earn the win for Fairfield.

The opening game of the doubleheader was less exciting but just as important as Baumann took the mound and shut down the Demons, allowing only one hit over the complete game shutout. He struck out eight in his first full game action of the season and only walked one.

?The curveball wasn?t really on early and I kept feeling it and throwing it and it started hooking in the fourth and fifth,? said Baumann. ?It?s much better [to play the full game] than warming up to throw and go the whole way. I was trying to be aggressive and take all the bases I could in game two for us. We finally got it done eventually.?

Papazaglou, Simpson, Ledger and Crile each picked up a hit for Fairfield in the opener. Hunter Hoskins, Crile and Ledger each scored a run.

Washington?s Tanner Coleman was the hard-luck loser of game one, surrendering only four hits and three unearned runs to the Trojans. He struck out two and walked only one.

Fairfield will host Fort Madison on Monday for another conference doubleheader as the Trojans improved to 6-2 on the year.