NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- With the season winding down, each game holds more and more meaning and today was no different. The Fairfield University took another step toward earning a berth in the 2019 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament with a pair of victories over Iona College, winning the first game by a 6-1 count and completing the sweep with a 6-5 decision. 

The two wins were also important to Head Coach Julie Brzezinski as she earned her 600th win at the school when the team completed its sweep today. She owns a 600-554-5 record as the Stags head coach and a 845-749-5 mark in her career.

The Stags never trailed today, leading from start to finish in the first game and taking an early lead in the nightcap, seeing Iona tie the game before coming back to regain the lead for good in the seventh inning. The Stags ability to score early was critical in the team's early season success and finding a way to win games late has been more of a hallmark later in the season. Between the characteristics, the Stags helped their own cause in the MAAC standings, improving their record to 9-7 in conference play.

Fairfield scored a run in its first at-bat of the day when Alisha Marshall came around to score following a misguided throw to first base. The team posted four runs in the fifth inning, the first of which came off another error that allowed Drew Westford to score off a grounder from Marshall. Mikayla Rubin followed with a long double to the gap that chased Marshall home to raise the Fairfield lead to 3-0. Merino brought home the team's fourth run with a single through the left side of the infield which pushed Kaleigh MacDonald across the plate. The final run of the inning was provided by Lauryn Rhinehart, who tallied the fifth run on the day following an error in left field.

The visiting team tacked on one more run in the sixth inning courtesy of Rubin's single to left field which brought Westford home with the team's final run. Iona broke up the shutout bid by right-hander Rhinehart with a run in the sixth inning. Rhinehart earned her eight win of the year by tossing seven innings and allowing five hits and striking out eight hitters. 

The second game began in a similar way for Fairfield but it took the team until the second inning to open the scoring with a single run. Cynthia Meringer collected an RBI single to left field which provided which provided Merino with the chance to post a run. The lead reached 4-0 in the fourth inning as Madison Robicheau recorded an RBI with a ground out and Ulzheimer garnered a two-run single up the middle.

The Gaels put together its first extended rally of the day in the fifth inning, scoring four times to tie the game at 4-4. Iona's first run was the result of an error while a two-run double and an RBI single were responsible for the home team evening things up later in the inning. 

The game was still tied at 4-4 heading into the final inning but that would change when Rhinehart launched a two-run homer that also scored Maria Telle. With a two-run lead in the bank, Fairfield pitcher Katie Kudlacik earned her 11th win of the year despite surrendering a solo home run that brought the score to 6-5. Rhinehart took over for the freshman hurler and completed the save opportunity that gave her teammates a sweep.

Fairfield returns to action on Sunday with a non-conference game against the University of Hartford. Game time is 11 am with a senior ceremony opening the day at approximately 10:45 am.