FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University softball team will begin play in the 2022 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship on Thursday and will play sixth-seeded Iona College at 11 am. The Gaels won their opening round game over third-seeded Siena College on Wednesday. The 2022 MAAC Championship is hosted by top-seeded Canisius College.

Fairfield swept Iona in the regular season, winning the first game by an 11-5 score before edging the Gaels by a 1-0 margin in 11 innings. In that nightcap thriller, Kaitlin Hoffman doubled in the game's only run, making a winner of pitcher Bailey Taylor who tossed the final 2.2 innings in relief of starter Lauryn Rhinehart. In the opener, Megan Forbes paced the Fairfield offense with three RBI while Mikayla Rubin added a pair of RBI in the 11-run outburst.

The Stags come into the MAAC Championship as the number two seed after posting a 15-5 record against conference opponents, just one game behind Canisius College which finished with a 16-4 mark. Fairfield has put together one of the best runs in school history by winning 11 straight games and 19 of its last 20 contests. The team posted eight straight wins before splitting a doubleheader with Canisius. After that split, Fairfield has not lost a game dating back to April 23.

Freshman Charli Warren, who was named the MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year earlier today, represents the team's top hitter with a .347 batting average. Since mid-March, the outfielder batted .423 over the remainder of the season (39 of 92) and .477 over the final 14 regular-season games (21 of 44) to help her build that hitting percentage. Junior Haley Updegraff is the team's other .300 hitter, checking into the tournament with a .308 average that helped her garner a spot on the All-MAAC second team.

In the pitching circle, pitcher Katie Kudlacik has put together another solid season that sends into the tournament with a 10-3 record, her second double-digit win total of her career. The lefthander, who was named All-MAAC for 2022, averages 5.3 strikeouts per seven innings pitched and owns a 2.78 ERA. Rhinehart comes into the postseason with a 5-5 record but possesses a 5-1 record against MAAC competition this season.

The Gaels used a couple of big innings to knock off third-seeded Siena College in their first MAAC tournament game, plating four runs in the second inning before adding three more in the sixth inning to account for their 7-5 win. Jessica Chilcott provided most of the offense with one swing, hitting a three-run homer in the second inning to put Iona in front of Siena. Samantha Rieb earned her seventh win while Kara Zazzaro collected her second save of the season.

Chilcott represents the team's top overall hitter with her .298 batting average, but also sets the standard for the offense with her 28 RBI. She hit her ninth home run of the season today which is just one off the pace established by Jamie Sheeran, who has 10 home runs and 24 RBI. Zazzaro has posted the most wins for Iona in the pitching circle, tossing 11 victories in the regular season. 

The winner of the Fairfield-Iona game will advance to the winner's bracket game on Friday, May 13 at 11 am while the other team will need to play an elimination game on Thursday at 4 pm.