FAIRFIELD, Conn. –Katie Kudlacik tossed a two-hit shutout in the first game and came back to earn a save by closing the last two innings of the nightcap, leading the Fairfield University softball team to a two-game sweep of Niagara University. The Stags won the opener by a 4-0 score and came-from-behind to win the second game by a 4-3 margin.

Fairfield managed just three hits during the first game but one of those singles set the tone early for the home team. Haley Updegraff opened the game for Fairfield with a base hit and advanced to third base when Charli Warren's sacrifice was misplayed to put runners at the corners. Warren stole second base to put two runners in scoring position, setting that key single that came off the bat of Kaitlin Hoffman and provided a 2-0 lead.

The lead would double in the third inning when Fairfield scored a pair of unearned runs with all the offense coming with two outs. After the first two hitters were retired, Kasey Sekula sent a ball to center field which came of the fielder's glove and allowed Lauryn Rhinehart and Mikayla Rubin to score the final runs of the game.

Kudlacik made those runs hold out over the final four innings, retiring 12 of the last 15 batters she faced including the last seven who came to plate. The lefthander finished the game with nine strikeouts against only two walks to earn her seventh win of the season.

Niagara took its first lead of the afternoon in game two when the Purple Eagles plated a run in the third inning. Maggie Venseske earned a walk which Kaity McInall followed with an infield single to put runners on first and second. Samantha Hare brought home the run with her up the middle for a 1-0 advantage.

The visitors added to their lead in the fifth inning with a pair of unearned runs, loading the bases with three straight singles. On the last single, the ball was thrown into the infield but ticked off a glove before ending in the Fairfield dugout which allowed two of those runners to come home for a 3-0 lead.

The lead did not last very long as the Stags answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning, a rally that was set up by an infield error. With outs and a runner on second from that miscue, Fairfield put together four consecutive hits in a pattern of double, single, double, single with the last being a bunt base hit by Charli Warren. When the throw went to first base, Madison Robicheau scored from second base to give her team a 4-3 lead.

After starter Lauryn Rhinehart yielded a single in the top of the sixth inning, Head Coach Julie Brzezinski went back to Kudlacik to close out the game and the senior responded by retiring six of the eight batters she faced to earn her first save of the season.

Fairfield will take the field once again on Tuesday, hosting Sacred Heart University for a single game that is scheduled for a 3:30 start.