FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University softball team continues their season-opening road trip with a five-game set at the Liberty University tournament this weekend. With a slight schedule change this weekend, the Stags will now play the University of Maryland twice on Friday (10 am and 12 pm) before playing the host school (2:30 pm) and Sacred Heart University (4:30 pm) on Saturday. The tournament comes to a close on Sunday when Fairfield will play Ball State University at 10 am.
The Stags come off a weekend tournament last weekend that also took place down south, dropping three games as part of the University of Virginia classic. The team looks to get back in the win column this weekend which is a formidble task considering the Stags' four opponents have a combined winning percentage of .603.
Maryland has been part of the national poll during the season and comes into this weekend with a 15-4 mark. Jaeda McFarland paces the offense with a .417 batting average that includes seven doubles, a triple, and a home run along with 11 RBI. Mackense Greico is also enjoying a solid start to the season with her .375 hitting percentage and her team co-leading 19 RBI. Ameila Lech is tied with her in the RBI column but has registered a team-best six home runs to date.
The Terrapins have two pitchers with seven victories, namely Trinity Schlotterbeck and Courtney Wyche. Schlotterbeck has won seven of her eight decisions over her nine appearances and also has two shutouts to go along with her 1.79 ERA. Wyche owns a 7-3 record and a 3.12 ERA, pitching one shutout and fanning 57 hitters in 51-plus innings. Keira Bucher is the team's closer, sporting six saves in 11 outings with a 1.53 ERA.
Liberty comes off a 6-2 win over the University of Virginia earlier this week, bringing the Flames overall record to 10-9. Rachel Roupe leads the team with a .333 batting average, pitching in with three doubles, a triple, three home runs, and 15 RBI. Caroline Hudson represents the team's top run producer with 18 RBI and is a consistent power hitter with seven homers. Devyn Howard is the team's third .300-plus hitters, recording a .322 mark with seven RBI and three home runs. Karlie Keeney has seen most of the action in the pitching circle, collecting a 7-5 record with a 2.35 ERA.
Sacred Heart owns a 5-5 overall record, winning three of five games played at the Red and Black Classic hosted by Gardner Webb last weekend. Amy Petrovich boasts the team's top batting average which stands at .379 and possesses a double, a home run, and 6 RBI. Victoria LoPinto is also a .300 hitter this season, holding a .360 hitting percentage through her 10 starts. Six Pioneer pitchers have seen time in the pitching circle in 2023 with Sam Kowalski seeing the most action. She brings a 3-2 record into the weekend in addition to 23 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched. Carly Koltko (1-1 record) and Liv Vadas (1-2 record) are responsible for the team's other two victories of the young season.
Ball State has won eight of its 15 games this season, posting a 3-2 mark at the Bulldog Classic in Athens, Ga. last weekend. Both of the team's losses came to host and 16th-ranked University of Georgia. Haley Wynn is among the nation's top hitters with her .490 batting average, scoring 15 runs and bringing home 10 more runs from the batter's box. Mikayla Timmons also has an impressive start to the season with her .459 hitting percentage, adding three doubles, a triple, two home runs, and 13 RBI to the mix. Angelina Russo has accumulated four wins in the pitching circle along with a 1.62 ERA and a save over her 39 innings of work. Alyssa Stramaglia has also earned plenty of innings, sporting a 2-2 record and a 3.62 ERA.
Fairfield comes off three setbacks at the University of Virginia tournament last weekend and owns a 3-5 record heading into Friday's action. Freshman
Delaney Whieldon continues to strong start to the season with a .389 batting average while her four walks brings her on-base percentage to .500. Outfielders
Kaitlin Hoffman and
Charli Warren are next in line on the statistics sheet, registering a .360 and a .357 batting average respectively. Eight different Fairfield student-athletes have an RBI this season as
Megan Forbes and
Kasey Sekula lead the way with four RBI each. Three pitchers have combined for the three wins courtesy of
Allie Bridgman (1-2 record),
Samantha Lindsay (1-1 record), and
Alyssa Weinberg (1-1 record).
