BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Fairfield University softball team saw its 2023 season come to a close after dropping a 2-0 decision to Iona College in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament elimination game. The fourth-seeded Stags opened the championship with a 5-3 win over fifth-seeded Siena College before falling to top-seeded Canisius yesterday by a 6-0 count.

For the second straight game, the Stags offense ran into a pitcher who kept it off-balance and allowed just one hit. Today, Kara Zazzaro tossed the complete-game shutout, yielding only a single to Haley Updegraff in the fifth inning. The senior hit the first pitch Zazzaro presented the line a base hit to left field, becoming Fairfield's only base runner of the game. Zazzaro did not walk a batter and fanned seven hitters in picking up her 13^th win.

Fairfield pitcher Allie Bridgman was touched for two runs but she tossed an equally impressive game, needing only 88 pitches to work her way through seven innings of play. She surrendered just four hits and did not walk a batter either. She ended the contest with four strikeouts, but Iona managed a run in the second inning off a solo home run and another in the fifth inning off an RBI single from Destiny Nardello. Bridgman, who won six games in the pitching circle this season, lowered her ERA to 2.78 after today's effort.

Kaitlin Hoffman and Updegraff were named to the 2023 MAAC All-Tournament team for their play in the three-game set. Hoffman batted .444 during the Stags stay at the tournament, stroking four hits in nine at-bats with an RBI. Updegraff owned a .333 batting average during the tournament with two hits in six at-bats with a home run and two RBI.

The back-to-back losses don't overshadow how the Stags managed to earn their way into this year's MAAC Championship. Fairfield put together perhaps its best of the season when it posted five straight wins including four MAAC victories. After posting a 2-1 decision over Army West Point in its final non-conference game, the Stags put together an offensive showcase that helped them earn their way not only into the tournament but with a number four seed.

The Stags swept Marist College, currently unbeaten in the MAAC Tournament, and Siena College, another conference tournament team by scoring 22 runs against those postseason teams. Fairfield scored four or more runs in three of those final conference games as well.

The team finished the 2023 season with a 22-25 overall record but owned a winning record in MAAC play with an 11-9 mark. Fairfield stood at 3-11 early in the season but rallied to go 19-14 the rest of the way.