FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- For the second time in as many games, the Fairfield University and Yale University softball teams will play a single game but this time will be in a different locale. The Stags and the Bulldogs faced each other on the West Coast as part of the Cal State-Fullerton/Long Beach State Tournament last Saturday. This time, the two programs will meet in the Nutmeg State on Wednesday for a 3:30 pm game. 

Yale came away with a 7-2 win in last weekend's match up as Morgan Sylvestre paced the offense with two of the team's two hits while Allie Bridgman added a base hit and an RBI. Willa Ferrer posted two hits and three RBI on the Yale side of the box score with Libby Peoples posting three singles in five at-bats. 

Sylvestre's performance against Yale capped a successful West Coast trip for the junior as the infielder registered 10 hits in 16 at-bats over the team's five-game run. She had at least one hit in all five contests which included four dates with two or more hits. After her week, Sylvestre leads the team in hitting with a .306 batting average, buoyed by her team-best 11 hits over her 13 starts this season. She is also the team's top defensive player so far, making just one error in 54 chances for a .981 fielding percentage.

Charli Warren and Anna Paravati have also made contributions to the Stags cause early in the season. Warren is the only other Stag with a double digit hit total, stroking 10 over her 13 games this season. She also represents one of the team's top run producers by touching home plate five times and driving in a pair of runs. Paravati is next in line behind Sylvestre by batting .267 in 12 appearances with eight hits along with her .333 on-base percentage.

Head Coach Julie Brzezinski has used four different pitchers this season, splitting the foursome between starting roles and relievers. Allie Bridgman and Alyssa Weinberg each have six starts this season while Bailey Taylor (5 games) and Chela Kovar (4 games) have come out of the bullpen for each of their appearances. Weinberg has two wins to her credit this season and has seen the most action with 34.1 innings pitched.

Yale hosts Bryant University for a doubleheader on Tuesday before welcoming Fairfield to campus on Wednesday. The Bulldogs have three student-athletes over or near the .300 mark this season, eld by Ferrer's .342 hitting percentage. She has four extra base hits which included a team-best two home runs in addition to her six RBI. Isabella Fortini and Peoples both are hitting .298 on the season with 14 hits each. Pitcher Emma Taylor has earned a bulk of the work in the circle which she has translated into two wins and a 2.05 ERA in eight games pitched.

Following the Yale game, the Stags will head south for a four-game weekend set at the University of Maryland tournament which pairs Fairfield against Purdue-Fort Wayne, Lafayette on Saturday along with Bryant and the host school on Sunday.