MERION STATION, Pa. – Two runs in the first and two runs in the eighth were enough as the Saint Joseph's baseball team held off a late Fairfield rally to secure a 4-3 win at Smithson Field on Monday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (5-4) once again got things started in the bottom of the first as Luke Zimmerman ripped a two-out, two-run single to score Conlan Wall and Ryan Picollo.
 
• The score remained at 2-0 until the eighth, in large part due to Wall's play in center field.  The Stags had a runner on first with two down in the third when Nick Sturino singled; Wall fired to third in time to get Ethan Hibbard trying to advance for the final out of the inning.  In the fourth, JP Kuczik hit a one-out line drive to center that Wall caught before throwing out Paul Catalano trying to score.
 
• The Hawks would double their lead in the eighth as Wall led off with a walk and scored on Ryan Weingarten's second home run in as many games.
 
• The runs would prove valuable as Fairfield (0-10) would rally in the ninth.  Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for Payten Wawruck, who doubled home a pair to cut the SJU lead in half.  A bases-loaded walk three batters later put the tying run 90 feet away, but Sam Davies induced a ground ball that ended the game.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Davies notched his first collegiate save to preserve the win for Colin Yablonski, who improved to 2-1 after scattering six hits and striking out five in five shutout innings.  Blake Helmstetter took the loss for Fairfield, falling to 0-2 after allowing two runs on three hits in four innings.
 
• Zimmerman had a multi-hit day, while Weingartner's home run was his Atlantic 10-leading fifth of the season.  Wall also drew three walks on the afternoon.

• Today's game was the first game ever played at Smithson Field on a Monday; the Hawks have now played on their home turf on every day of the week.
 
UP NEXT
The teams will wrap up the two-game set on Tuesday afternoon at Smithson Field.  Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.