NEW YORK, N.Y. -- For five innings, the Fairfield University softball struggled to put runs on the scoreboard. But those struggles were a distant memory by the time the sixth inning rolling around as the Stags went on to score five times in that inning before adding four more in the seventh frame, turning an 8-1 deficit into a 10-10 tie. But Columbia University found a way to scratch one run across home plate in the eighth inning, giving the home team an 11-10 victory over Fairfield.

The Lions scored early and scored often the opening innings, touching starting pitcher Lauryn Rhinehart for eight runs in their first three at-bats. While only five of those runs were earned, the Stags still found themselves with as difficult task ahead of them, especially since pitcher Maura Lynch tossed one-hit ball through the first four innings. The only blemish on the senior hurler's line was an unearned run in the third inning which came home when Courtney Hankins lofted a sacrifice fly to make the score 8-1.

After Lynch left the game, Fairfield found its stroke and erupted for nine runs on nine hits over the final two innings. In the sixth inning, it was two hits that put Fairfield back into the game, beginning with Kate Robinson's two-run single that brought home Hankins and Sam Merino. Robinson's single put her on the base paths with Angelina McGuire, who walked earlier in the inning. Drew Westford stepped into the batter's box and ripped a three-run homer that made the score 8-6.

Columbia earned two runs back in the bottom of the sixth inning with Madison Gott standing the middle of the rally. The senior drove home the first run of the inning with a single and later scored the second run following a wild pitch. Down four runs with only three outs in hand, the Stags' chances did not seem very solid. Yet, Fairfield rallied four runs by combining four hits with two Columbia errors to tally four runs that tied the score at 10-10. Merino posted an RBI single in the inning, but it was Robinson's two-run single that accounted for the tying runs.

Fairfield went down in order in its half of the eighth inning, a script that the Lions did not follow in their eighth-inning at bat. Gott returned to the plate and sliced a double that brought home the game-winning run.

The Stags will return to the diamond when they host Monmouth University for a doubleheader at Alumni Softball Field which also represents the team's home opener as well as the program's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opener. Game time is slated for 12 pm.