FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- A break from Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (
MAAC) play awaits the Fairfield University softball team this week. The Stags will host St. John's University on Wednesday before heading to Yale University for a Thursday match up, a recent addition to the team's schedule.
Fairfield comes off a lengthy 10-game road trip that sent the team off campus from April 4 to April 16. The stretch started with an intrastate game against
UConn and ended with a run to upstate New York for back-to-back doubleheaders with Niagara University and
Canisius College last weekend. Eight of those contests were conference games which Fairfield split by sweeping Quinnipiac and Niagara but dropping a pair of games to both Manhattan and
Canisius.
Kaitlin Hoffman enjoyed the road swing based on her .382 batting average over the 10 games, posting 13 hits in 34 at-bats with two doubles, two triples, and a home run. She also was perfect on the base paths, stealing four bases in as many attempts in addition to scoring five runs.
Charli Warren finished just under the .300 threshold, registering a .294 hitting percentage with 10 hits in 34 at-bats with five runs scored and three stolen bases while away from campus. In the pitching circle,
Samantha Lindsay won two of the team's four games with
Allie Bridgman and
Alyssa Weinberg each picking up a win to account for the other victories.
The season statistics also highlight Warren and Hoffman with both student-athletes registering batting averages over the .300 mark. Warren currently stands at .337 through her 31 starts, stroking a team-best 33 hits and earning a team-leading 13 walks. Hoffman is next in line through her .306 batting average which benefits from her 30 base hits in 98 at-bats. Her 11 extra base hits are best among her teammates, collecting seven doubles, three triples, and one home run. Weinberg and Lindsay each have posted four wins on the season while Bridgman is just off that pace with three victories. All three pitchers have one save on the season.
The Stags play their third Big East school in 2023 when St. John's travels to the Nutmeg State on Wednesday. Game time is scheduled for 3 pm at Alumni Softball Field. The Red Storm owns a 15-23 overall record which includes a 4-10 mark in conference play. The team has played five nationally-ranked teams this season, namely Kentucky, Auburn, Stanford, and Georgia twice.
London Jarrard leads the team in most offensive categories including batting average (.364), hits (36), doubles (14), triples (2), home runs (5), and RBI (20). Anese Thompson is also enjoying a solid season in the batter's box, sporting a .317 hitting percentage along with 17 RBI and 19 walks through her 36 games played. Carolina Zamudio has been effective in the pitching circle with a 7-4 record and a 1.28 ERA with 56 strikeouts.
Yale has won six of 10 games since defeating the Stags by a 2-1 count at home on March 29. The Bulldogs posted five wins in nine Ivy League games which includes a three-game sweep of the University of Pennsylvania over the weekend of April 8.
Lauren Perren has produced the most runs from the batter's box, driving in 23 baserunners through her 33 starts this season. Willa Ferrer ranks second with 20 RBI and four home runs, one long ball short of Perren's team-leading total. Emma Taylor has accumulated the most wins on the pitching staff with six victories, tossing a team-best 77 innings and owning a team-leading 3.91 ERA.
After these two midweek dates, Fairfield will get back to MAAC play when it hosts Iona College for a twin bill on Saturday, April 22 at Alumni Softball Field. First pitch is slated for 12 pm.
