FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The 2023 Fairfield University softball schedule provides a little bit of everything for the Stags including competition against four programs that advanced to the 2022 NCAA tournament, six Division I opponents in Connecticut, and another formidable campaign against the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Head Coach Julie Brzezinski put together a 50-plus game schedule that she hopes will prepare her team for a berth to the 2023 MAAC Championship.

"We will compete against several national and regional programs to start our 2023 season," Head Coach Julie Brzezinski said. "That level of competition will not only challenge us on the field but also prepare us for the rigors of a competitive MAAC schedule that starts in April."

The Stags will open 2023 play with four straight tournaments with each providing a five-game slate. The season opens in Florida with a trip to Stetson University from February 17-19, where Fairfield will play two games against Monmouth University, a single contest with Mercer University, and a pair of dates with the host school.

From there, the Stags will head to the University of Virginia for five more outings between March 3-5. The team will play St. Francis University, a NCAA tournament team last season, and the host school on day one before De Paul University and George Mason University come up on March 4. The three-day stay ends with another date against George Mason on Sunday.

Liberty University, which advanced to the national tournament in 2022, will host a three-day invitational that sends the Stags against Ball State University and University of Maryland on March 10, Liberty and Sacred Heart University on March 11, and Ball State on March 12.

The final multi-team event sets up the Stags with a doubleheader at the University of Kansas on March 16 and a match up with the University of Nebraska, a NCAA Tournament team a year ago, on March 17. The run ends on Saturday with a game against the University of Tulsa and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Fairfield returns to the Northeast for a run of four straight road contests against Connecticut-based schools, starting with Central Connecticut State University on March 22 and continuing with Sacred Heart University (March 23), the University of Hartford (March 28), and Yale University (March 29). All four schools will return for a game at Alumni Softball Field during the month of April.

The Stags will play their first home date on April 1 when they host Rider University for a doubleheader which also marks their MAAC opener. The four-game home stand closes out with a twin bill against Mount St. Mary's University on April 2.

Coach Brzezinski will bring her team to two more Nutmeg State campuses when Fairfield heads North for single contest with the UConn on April 4 before playing MAAC foe Quinnipiac University on April 7. Following road dates with Manhattan College (April 8) and Columbia University (April 12), Fairfield returns to Alumni Softball Field for a rematch with Central Connecticut on April 13 but it hits the road again for back-to-back doubleheaders with Canisius College, which advanced to the NCAA tourney in 2022, and Niagara University on April 15 and 16 respectively.

The Stags close out the regular season by playing 10 of their final 12 games at home, hosting St. John's University (April 19), Iona College (April 22), Hartford (April 25), Sacred Heart (April 26), Army West Point (May 3), Siena College (May 6), and Marist College (May 7). During that stretch, Fairfield's lone road date is April 29 at Saint Peter's University for a pair of MAAC contests.

The program looks to be one of the top six teams in the MAAC standings following the regular season which would place it in the 2023 MAAC Championship which will be hosted by the regular-season champion from May 10-13.