NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Fairfield University softball team was taken down with a late game rally by Yale University as the Bulldogs erased a 6-1 deficit to walk off with an 8-6 decision over the Stags.
Charli Warren posted four hits in as many at bats for the Stags while teammates Morgan
Sylvestre and
Anna Paravati added two base hits to the team's cause.
Fairfield took control early in the game by scoring three runs in its first at-bat, a rally that started with leadoff hitter Warren's single up the middle. Sylvestre continued her success in the batter's box with an infield single to put runners on first and second bases. After a bunt moved both runners forward,
Megan Forbes hit a sharp grounder that was misplayed and allowed Warren to score and Sylvestre to reach third base. Forbes stole second base but the throw was errant which sent Sylvestre home with the team's second run. The third run came home when
Cara Kochakian laced a triple down the right field line for a 3-0 lead.
Two walks and a single in the second inning put Yale on the scoreboard but the Stags would double their run total with another three spot in the fourth inning.
Delaney Whieldon opened the inning with a double to left field and moved to third following a sacrifice bunt.
Martina Gutierrez chased home Delaney with a fly ball to the outfield, pushing the score to 4-1. Sylvestre and Paravati each added an RBI single to increase the Stags lead to five runs at 6-1 going into the bottom of the fourth.
Yale put itself back into the game with a three-run sixth inning that brought the Bulldogs with a pair of runs at 6-4. A
leadoff single set up an RBI base hit by Carolyn Skotz, who would come around to score later in the inning when Sam Goodcase launched a two-run homer to center field to close out the rally. The Bulldogs completed the comeback in the seventh inning by adding four more runs to their total, a stretch which started with an RBI grounder that put the home team just one run behind. Later in the frame, Perren came to the plate as a pinch hitter and sent the ball over the fence for a game-winning three-run homer.
Next up, the schedule sends the Stags 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.
