DELAND, Fla. -- Last weekend, the Fairfield University and University of Maryland softball teams both spent time at the Carolina Classic but the schedule did not place the two team against each other. This weekend, the Stags and the Terrapins opened their first day at the Stetson Invitational with a game against one another and Fairfield came away with the win, edging their Big Ten foe by a 6-5 score and completing a sweep on its first day at the tournament.

The Stags started the afternoon with a 3-2 win over UT-Martin, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the victory. Even though Fairfield had outhit their opponent, it still found itself trailing 2-1 going into their last at-bat. Freshman Tahlia Brown opened the bottom of the seventh with a double and went to third when Cynthia Meringer placed a bunt to the left side of the infield.

After fly out to center field, the Stags found themselves down to their last chance when Amanda Ulzheimer stepped into the batter's box. The junior beat out an infield hit to the right side which allowed the tying run to score, knotting the score at 2-2. Kaitlin Hoffman was next to the plate for Fairfield and the freshman worked out a walk to send Ulzheimer into scoring position. Courtney Hankins followed with the Stags' second two-out hit in the inning, chasing home Ulzheimer with the deciding run.

"We felt like we dominated the game offensively but really had only one run to show for it going into the seventh inning," Head Coach Julie Brzezinski said. "Tahlia did a great job with the leadoff double and Amanda and Courtney getting two-out hits showed our resilience. The team stayed confident in their approach at the plate and eventually it showed."

Pitcher Katie Kudlacik earned the win for Fairfield, improving her record to 3-1 in the early season. The left hander surrendered seven hits in the game but did not walk a batter to keep UT-Martin in check for most of the game with the exception of a two-run homer in the fourth inning. She also struck out two hitter in her seven innings of work.

The Stags did not rest on their opening win as they faced the University of Maryland shortly after the first game ended. The Terrapins opened the game with four runs in the bottom of the first inning, putting Fairfield behind right from the start. The damage was done with three singles, one produced two runs while the other two brought home one runner each.

"We talked about playing the rest of the game as if it was 0-0 so we didn't get ahead of ourselves or press," Coach Brzezinski said. "The entire lineup put the ball in play hard and that allowed us to chip away."

Fairfield worked its way back into the game in similar fashion, using three run-scoring singles to close the game to 4-3 after three innings. Hankins delivered the first run-producing hit while Mikayla Rubin and Hoffman followed with their RBI single. The Stags completed the comeback with two runs in the top of the fifth inning as Hoffman found the gap with a two-run double that put Fairfield in front for the first time at 5-4. 

Maryland tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer but the Stags pushed across the game winning run in their next at-bat. Hoffman tallied the team's sixth run off Maria Telle's sacrifice fly. Lauryn Rhinehart earned the win in relief of Karisa Hughen, tossing the final two plus inning without allowing a run or a hit during her time in the circle.

"Karisa settled in after the first inning and kept them off balance until the fifth when Lauryn relieved her with runners on," Coach Brzezinski said. "Lauryn worked her spots well and fed a strong defense behind her. Staying within ourselves and stringing together multiple base hits kept us competing and ultimately got us the win."

Fairfield will return to the diamond on Saturday when the team plays Bethune-Cookman at 10 am before taking on host Stetson University at 4:30 pm.