WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. -- Sometimes things just go the way they are supposed to go. 

So when Courtney Hankins stepped into the batter's box in a tie game, it would seem appropriate that the junior would make an impact in the game. After all, she was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Player of the Year last night, led the conference in hitting for MAAC games with a .492 mark, and was the team's top run producer with seven home runs and 29 RBI.

The infielder held true to form by launching a pitch over the left -center field fence for a two-run homer that put the Fairfield University softball team in front of Marist College by a 3-1 count, a score that would stay intact the rest of the way and send the Stags to their 10th straight win and one stop further in the 2018 MAAC Tournament. 

Fairfield never trailed in the game, using three consecutive hits in the first inning to plate the first run of the game. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Hankins started the rally with a single down the left field line for the first of the Stags' 10 hits. Angelina McGuire surgically sliced a grounder between first and second that slipped past both right-side infielders to put runners at first and second. Kate Robinson, who entered the tournament with a .523 lifetime batting average in MAAC tournament play, drilled a single to center field that chased Hankins home with the game's first run.

Marist tied the game in the top of the second inning, using a walk and hit with an error to bring home its only run of the game. After Lauren Beal drew a walk, Miranda Perez put down a bunt that was fielded cleanly but first base was uncovered and the throw sailed down the right field line. When the play was done, the Red Foxes had runners on second and third with two outs. Casey Page brought the run home with a single, the team's third of the inning. Fairfield's starting pitcher Lauryn Rhinehart induced a fly ball to center field to end the inning and keep the game at 1-1.

Both teams created opportunities over the next three inning as Marist left four on bases over their next three at-bats while the Stags left two on base through the third and fourth innings. The game would turn in the Stags' half of the fifth inning as Rachel Sieber led off with a single. After the next two Stags were retired, Hankins walked up to the batter's box and prepared for her time at the plate. After a strike on the first pitch, Hankins turned on a pitch that cleared the confines of the ballpark and put Fairfield in front by a 3-1 score.

"I was just looking for something to hit, something on a flat plane that I could drive and hit hard," Hankins said. "I knew that there was somebody on base so I thought if I could hit the ball into a gap then I could get her in."

Marist tried to rally in the sixth and seventh innings, putting runners on base in each of those frames. The Stags' defense turned a double play in the sixth inning to end that threat before Rhinehart shrugged off a leadoff single in the seventh inning before retiring the next three hitters to end the game.

"I thought the kids came out with a lot of energy and a lot of passion," Head Coach Julie Brzezinski said. "I thought Lauryn did a good job on the mound by keeping hitters off balance with changing speeds and eye levels throughout the game. She has been more and more consistent as the year has progressed which has made her more confident out there. The defense got us out of a couple situations that were really tough. Courtney always keeps a level head and stays consistent which is why she is successful. She did that today and really has done that all season."

Fairfield will play its next MAAC Tournament game on Friday at 11 am against the winner of the Monmouth-Manhattan game. Monmouth is hosting the tournament as the tournament's top seed while fifth-seeded Manhattan won its first-round game on Wednesday to advance to today's winner bracket game.