FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University softball team will welcome Marist College to University Field for a four-game series this week, hosting the Red Foxes on Tuesday and Thursday for a twin bill each day. Both days will feature a 2 pm first pitch.

The Stags will play for the first time in over a week, last taking the diamond for a doubleheader against Rider University on April 10. Fairfield finished that afternoon with a sweep of the Broncs, the team's first two-win day since winning a pair against Manhattan on opening day. Since that day, the Stags split six consecutive doubleheaders which brings a 10-6 overall and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) record into the Marist series. 

Two Fairfield student-athletes earned MAAC player of the week awards for their performance against Siena and Rider. Kaitlin Hoffman was named the MAAC Player of the Week after she batted .471 with a grand slam and eight RBI during the week. Allie Bridgman collected the MAAC Rookie of the Week award by winning a pair of decisions and posting a 0.58 ERA. Hoffman leads the team in hitting with a .353 hitting percentage, stroking 12 hits in 34 at-bats. Bridgman owns a 3-0 record through the season with a season ERA of 2.25.

Katie Kudlacik has won a team-best four games against just one loss in six appearances and also has garnered 37 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched this year. Laura Rhinehart also has secured three wins this year with two of those decisions coming in the form of a complete game. Megan Forbes (.333 batting average), Mikayla Rubin (.300), and Lacey Olaff (.300) are also performing well in the batter's box this season.

The Red Foxes opened their season with a four-game set against Monmouth University, dropping three of the four scheduled contests. Marist came up short in both games of the first doubleheader before managing a split on the back half of the series. The team posted a 2-1 victory by scoring the tying run in the bottom of the sixth inning off Kaley Coltrain's solo homer and the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning off a Monmouth miscue.

Shea Walsh started the season well by posting a .455 batting average through four starts, registering five hits in 11 at-bats with a stolen base. Hunter Hand is next in line with a .375 hitting percentage which comes about from three hits in eight at-bats. Coltrain, Ali Milam, and Alyssa Yarem have accounted for the team's three home runs.

Calista Phippen went 1-1 in her two appearances against Monmouth, posting a 1.95 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 14.1 innings pitched. Kiley Myers and Nicole Teague have also seen time in the pitching circle with Myers seeing the most action between the two student-athletes as illustrated by her 11-plus innings pitched.

Following this midweek four-game series, Fairfield will host Saint Peter's University for another four-game run on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Both doubleheaders are scheduled for 12 pm starts.