The Bulldogs held the lead in both games Wednesday, but they lost both of them before the final out was made.

Yale fell to Fairfield University 4–3 and 8–4 in a pair of seven-inning contests at Yale Field yesterday afternoon.

“We just couldn’t put a whole game together today,” pitcher Chris O’Hare ’13 said. “We need to play a lot better when it’s winning time.”

In the first game the Elis (6–24–1, 0–8 Ivy) jumped out to a 3–0 lead after two innings thanks to three hits and two walks. Catcher Ryan Brenner ’12 led off the bottom of the first with a double and then came around to score on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Cale Hanson ’14. Yale tacked on two more in the second after a double off the bat of designated hitter Josh Scharff ’13 scored Jacob Hunter ’14. Scharff would score the third run himself when Brenner hit a sacrifice fly to left field.

But the wheels came off for the Elis in the top of the third. After striking out the side in the second inning, lefthander Eric Hsieh ’15 appeared to have a 1–2–3 third inning, but Hanson overthrew the first baseman. The Stags (14–19, 3–6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) took advantage of the extra out and scored two runs in the inning.

“I did a lot better than in past outings,” Hsieh said. “[But] I have to be better at settling down [after an error] … I left a few balls up in the zone.”

Fairfield took the lead in the top of the fifth inning, and despite a Yale hit in each of the final three frames, the Stags held onto the lead.

In the second half of the doubleheader, the Elis fell down 3–0 early but managed to retake the lead 4–3 in the bottom of the fourth. Yale tied the game at three-all in the bottom of the third on a two-run double by Brenner and an RBI single by first baseman and pitcher Kevin Fortunato ’14. The Blue and White took the lead on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Chris Piwinski ’13.

The lead was transient for the Bulldogs, as the Stags scored five runs in the final two innings to steal the game.

Unlike in previous games, hitting was not a problem for Yale, and the Bulldogs collected 16 hits during the twin bill.

“This weekend and today we hit a lot of balls hard but right at people,” Fortunato said. “That’s something that doesn’t show up in the box score … [And] that’s the thing about baseball. Even when you do everything right, you can still fail.”

The Elis will be staying at home this weekend as they place host to the archrival Harvard Crimson (6–23, 2–6 Ivy) at Yale Field.