Specifically, their hitters needed it.
Aaron England, Preston George and Dominic Back all had multi-hit games, Lucas Davids pitched five scoreless innings of two-hit ball and Fairfield snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Princeton 13-0 on the road Monday night.
The Indians (4-9, 4-6 Greater Miami Conference) have split the last four meetings against the Vikings (7-3, 4-3 GMC). Fairfield has been shut out in eight of its nine losses this season, including a 2-0 setback to Princeton at home Friday.
“The guys have got to be confident in themselves,” Durham said. “Me as a coach, I’ve just got to do a better job of getting them on the right mindset with hitting.
“I’m going to take full accountability. We work our tails off, but we’ve just got to get into the minds of these young hitters. We’ve got to let them know that it’s OK to fail, but you’ve just got to compete.”
Fairfield put three runs on the board in the first inning thanks to four walks and a hit by pitch from Princeton starting pitcher Daelyn Jarman.
That got Davids in the zone early. The senior lefty struck out five and didn’t give up a hit until the third inning.
“I thought we played well today,” Davids said. “Defense was good. We strung some hits together. Pitching was good — as it has been the entire year. Hopefully, this kicks off a winning streak.
“Today was a big game just for our hitters to get some confidence. We trust Lance. He knows what he’s doing, and we trust our guys, too. I think we will be fine at the plate. It’s just going to take some time.”
Fairfield pieced together two runs in the third, a run in the fourth and three in the fifth before closing the seventh out with four more.
Davids said this could be the start of some momentum for the Indians.
“Every year, I feel like we have a big winning streak where we run like nine or 10 or 11 of them off,” said Davids, a Lake Erie College commit. “So, hopefully this is kind of the kickstart of that.
“We’re not young as a team, but it’s a lot of first-year varsity guys. It’s just been kind of an adjustment from freshmen to JV to varsity. As the season goes on, we’re going to get comfortable, and everybody will be fine.”
Fairfield senior Austin Huey struck out five in two innings of relief. Ayden Cline, Colton Owens, Jeff Sharpshaire and England each had a pair of RBIs.
“I think we can turn the corner,” Durham said. “We’ve just got to keep putting some good at-bats together, and I think we can make a run late.
“I want people to see just a bunch of guys wanting to win. That’s obviously what we’re trying to do. We want people to see us flying around the field and hustling. We’re going to keep stacking good days and just try to see where we can get.”
Fairfield plays Sycamore at Xavier University on Wednesday as part of the Cincinnati Reds Showcase.
Grayson Wolf, Wyatt Shaw, Kenyon Harris and Corey Bonner Jr. had hits for Princeton, which plays 11 games in 12 days. The Vikings host Lakota West on Wednesday.
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