LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Fairfield University overcame an early deficit to defeat the University of Pennsylvania on the final day of the Liberty Invitational. The victory enabled the Stags to garner a split for the day after opening with a 4-1 loss against Butler University.
The Quakers broke through first with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning. Penn opened with an infield single and followed with a base runner reaching following a throwing error. After a sacrifice bunt, Lucy Yang laced a double to right center that brought home both runners and spotted the visiting team with a 2-0 edge.
Fairfield tied the game in the bottom of the third inning when
Sam Merino reached on a throwing error. Following a stolen base, Merino ran home with the team's first run courtesy of
Kaitlin Hoffman's triple down the right field line. She added the tying run off
Lacey Olaff's run scoring single to right field, making the score 2-2.
The Stags took the lead with two more runs in the fifth inning with Merino being at the heart of the rally. She started the frame with a double to left-center field, setting herself up in scoring position.
Megan Forbes' bunt was misplayed which allowed Merino to score.
Mikayla Rubin moved Forbes up one base with her own bunt, setting up a run-scoring base hit from Olaff.
Katie Kudlacik earned her second win of the season by tossing seven innings without allowing an earned run and striking out 10 hitters.
In the earlier game, Fairfield plated the first run of the game in the second inning. After a couple of ground outs to start the inning, Forbes drew a walk and stole second to put herself in scoring position.
Mikayla Rubin completed the scoring chance with a double to right center field, putting the score at 1-0.
Butler put together its own scoring opportunity in the bottom of the inning as three hits led to three runs, the last of which was a three-run homer from Elyse Babb. The team finished the scoring in the fifth inning with two singles and two walks to bring the score to 4-1.
Fairfield returns to the diamond over the weekend as a participant at the Stetson Invitational, playing Northern Kentucky and Sacred Heart on March 7 followed by a game with the host school on March 8.
