As a team, Hartford combined for 13 hits with right fielder Ryan Lukach leading all hitters in the game going 3-of-5 overall. A pair of Hawks joined Ruch with two hits on the afternoon with centerfielder Chris DelDebbio and catcher Billy Walker adding another multi-hit outing to their records. Walker would also drive in a pair of Hartford runs while James Alfonso and second baseman Aaron Wilson each drove in one.

On the hill, redshirt freshman John McGinty earned the victory, his first of the season in three appearances. The right-hander remains the only member of the Hawks staff who has yet to allow a run in 2014, joining junior lefty Sean Newcomb with an unblemished 0.00 ERA. Overall, McGinty has pitched 4.2 innings with two of those innings coming against the Stags. He secured his six outs without allowing a hit, while walking two and striking out three.

Freshman Brian Stepniak started his second game of the season, giving up a pair of earned runs on four hits in four innings of work. He also walked one and struck out three. Austin Barnes and Ryan Carter each pitched on innings of relief without allowing a run while David MacKinnon closed out the game, giving up three runs, two earned, on one hit and two walks in the top of the ninth.

After two singles in the top of the second led to the Stags first run of the afternoon, Hartford responded by taking a 2-1 lead in its half of the inning with Ruch driving in his third and fourth runs of the season. The rookie infielder came up with runners on second and third with two outs, driving his first hit of the game into right centerfield allowing Lukach and John LaRossa to give the Hawks the lead.

Fairfield would manage to tie the game in the top of the fourth inning, using a leadoff walk to their advantage. First baseman Brendan Tracy drove in that run for the Stags as he came to the plate with runners on the corners.

Hartford would then break the game open with a six run fifth inning leading to an 8-2 lead that would be held up until the final half inning. The Hawks sent 11 batters to the plate in the fifth managing five hits including two-run doubles from Walker and Ruch. Wilson and Alfonso, who pinch hit in the fifth, drove in the other two Hawk runs.

After stranding five Stag runners on the bases through the next four innings, Hartford would allow three runs in the top of the ninth but halted the Fairfield comeback earning the third-straight victory and seventh in the last eight games. All three of those ninth innings runs for Fairfield came thanks to a double down the left field line from designated hitter Jack Giannini.

Hartford will return to Fiondella Field for a second-straight weekend of league competition, welcoming the Stony Brook Seawolves for a three-game series. The Hawks and Seawolves are scheduled for 12 p.m. first pitches on Saturday and Sunday with the first of those days scheduled to be a doubleheader.