Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Rae Ball picked up the win in the pitching circle and contributed two hits with three RBI at the plate, leading the Fairfield University softball team to a split with Marist College in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Stags won the game by a 5-4 score after dropping the first game by a 4-3 count.

In the win, Fairfield fell behind right away as the Red Foxes plated a pair of run in the top of the first inning. Megan Lamoureux sent an RBI double to right center to drive home the first run and later scored the second run off a single by Aly Zahka. Fairfield would tie the game in the bottom of the second inning with the rally starting when Alli Wigand reached on an error by the right fielder. She took third base following Sammy Ruffolo's sacrifice bunt and later scored when Ball launched a two-run homer over the left field fence.

The Red Foxes recaptured the lead in the fifth inning with only one hit, a leadoff single by Alyssa Zahka. A couple of walks placed Zahka on third base with one out, just before Danielle Koltz picked up an RBI with a sacrifice fly to left field. The Stags would take the lead for good in the sixth inning, putting together five hits in the frame. Wigand tied the game with a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-3 game. Ruffolo put the Stags in front with an RBI single that chased home Lauren Liseth for a 4-3 Fairfield advantage. Ball followed with another extra base hit, this time lacing a double down the left field line to send home to send home Ruffolo with the fifth run.

Those runs proved critical for the Stags as Marist rallied in the top of the seventh inning. Christina Lausch led off with a double and was sacrificed to third by Corriss. Lausch eventually scored on a mishandled infield grounder that made the score 4-3. The Red Foxes nearly tied the game when Zahka singled to center field, but Ruffolo threw out pinch runner Nicole Van Loan at the plate to end the game.

In the first game, Fairfield scored all of its runs in the third inning to grab a 3-0 lead for starter Rebecca Trott. Fairfield scored the first run of the game when a double steal by Kristen Filicia and Liseth resulted in an over throw by the catcher that landed in left field. Filicia trotted home and Liseth ended up at third base. She would score when Wigand drove a double to right center for a 2-0 Fairfield lead. Wigand ended the scoring when she ran home following a base hit by Ball.

Marist scored a single run in both the fourth and fifth innings, the first coming on a sacrifice fly by DiVirgilio and the other coming on an over throw to first base on the tail end of a double-play try. The Red Foxes picked up two more runs in the seventh inning courtesy of a double by Lamoureux and a single from DiVirgilio.

The Stags return to the diamond on April 10 when they head to the University of Hartford for a pair of games. Game time is slated for 2:30 pm.