FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University softball team can put some space between it and the rest of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) with a few good results on Saturday and Sunday. The Stags will host Saint Peter's College and Manhattan College this weekend with both doubleheaders starting at 1 pm.

Head Coach Julie Brzezinski has guided her team to a 7-1 record through the first half of the MAAC schedule which is good enough to put the squad in first place. But, there are four other teams appearing the Stags rearview mirror - Marist (8-2), Manhattan (5-3), Iona (5-3), and Niagara (6-4) are well within striking distance of the top spot. Fairfield will play three of those four teams over the next two weeks, beginning with Manhattan on Sunday.

The run continues next week when the Stags host Niagara on May 7 before heading to Marist for the regular-season finale on May 8. The top four teams in the MAAC will advance to the conference tournament which will be hosted by Marist on May 12-14.

Fairfield continues to score runs, scoring 18 times in the last four games. The Stags won three of those four games, and have posted a 13-5 slate during the month of April. Freshmen Lauren Liseth and Rae Ball have joined senior Kristina Lingo and junior Alli Wigand in producing most of those runs. Liseth leads the team with a .317 batting average and places second with 27 RBI. Lingo owns a .295 hitting percentage with a team-best 28 RBI. Ball and Wigand are next in line with 20 RBI.

Sarah Minice remains the team's top pitcher with a 12-7 record and a conference-best 1.44 ERA. She has pitched more than twice as many innings than any other Stag this year, coming into the weekend with 126.1 innings pitched. Ball ranks second with five victories, while Rebecca Trott, Emily Orr, and Kelli Painter have two victories each.

Saint Peter's brought a 2-26 overall record into its doubleheader on Friday afternoon, and owns a 1-7 MAAC mark. The Peahens are led by Alexis Gallagher, who owns a team-best .277 batting average. Shelby Beaver, who has a team-high seven RBI, accounts for both of thet eam's wins in the pitching circle.

Manhattan owned an 18-20 overall record and a 5-3 MAAC mark before playing Rider on Saturday afternoon. Monica Evangelista and Kate Bowen registered a .301 and a .295 batting average, respectively, through the first 38 games. Bowen also serves as one of the team's pitchers, owning a 3-1 record with a team-low 3.32 ERA.