NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – A five-run rally and a quick start enabled the Fairfield University softball team to sweep Niagara University on Friday afternoon.
Kaitlin Hoffman provided the key hit in the opener with her two-run double capping the Stags rally.
Madison Robicheau contributed two hits and two RBI in the second game.
Haley Updegraff's third-inning double and
Anna Paravati's fourth-inning single accounted for the only Fairfield hits through the first six innings. Trailing 3-1 going to the top of the seventh inning, the Stags found a way to string hits together and accumulate base runners. After a fly out to begin the inning, Paravati reached on an error to put a runner at first base.
Allie Bridgman and pinch hitter
Gia Scannapieco loaded the bases with a walk and a single respectively.
Updegraff's single and a misplayed grounder from
Charli Warren brought home the second and tying run, knotting the score at 3-3. The Stags took their first lead of the game when
Morgan Sylvestre, who reentered the game as a runner for Scannapieco, raced home following a wild pitch. Hoffman closed out the scoring with a double to the center field fence, bringing home the final two runs. Niagara managed one run in the bottom of the seventh but
Alyssa Weinberg closed the door to earn her fourth win of the season.
Fairfield did not wait as long for its comeback in game two, scoring twice in the fourth and fifth innings to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead. The Stags scored the game's first run off Robicheau's bunt single that chased Updegraff home for a 1-0 edge The Purple Eagles grabbed the lead in the third inning courtesy of back-to-back sacrifice fly balls.
The Stags collected a pair of runs in their next plate appearance, securing the first run of the frame from Bridgman's through the right side. She moved up a base on the throw home that was too late to catch Updegraff. Robicheau sent home Bridgman with a single through the left side, making the score 3-2.
The final runs of the game on pair of RBI doubles from
Megan Forbes and Paravati, bringing the score to 5-2 in the fourth inning.
Samantha Lindsay scattered four hits and allowed the two runs to garner her fourth win of the campaign.
Fairfield will close out its weekend in upstate New York with a doubleheader at Canisius College on Saturday with first pitch coming at 2:30 pm.
