Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Fairfield University softball team split a pair of games at the University of Maryland Tournament, starting with a 7-3 decision over Purdue Fort Wayne before falling to Lafayette College by a 5-3 count.
The Stags opened the day with Purdue Fort Wayne and grabbed an early lead with a single run in the second inning.
Delaney Whieldon reached on an error and went to third when
Cara Kochakian stroked a two-out.
Martina Gutierrez's RBI grounder to the right side chased Whieldon home which provided starting pitcher
Alyssa Weinberg with a one-run advantage.
Whieldon played a role in Fairfield's three-run third inning as well, driving all those runs home with a home run to center field. Her long ball was set up after
Morgan Sylvestre opened the inning with a bunt base hit and
Allie Bridgman added a one-out single.
Fairfield built on that lead in the fourth inning when Gutierrez laced a double and
Charli Warren added a triple to push the lead to 5-0. Sylvestre collected her second bunt single to bring home Warren, and later scored off a base hit from
Megan Forbes.
Purdue Fort Wayne put together a rally in the seventh inning to bring itself a little closer courtesy of a sacrifice fly and an RBI single but Weinberg quelled the comeback bid by inducing a grounder for the final out. The left hander earned her third win by scattering seven hits and striking out five in her complete-game effort.
In the Stags' second game, Lafayette posted the game's first run in the top of the fourth. The scoring chance started with a single followed by a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. After an infield popup, the Leopards delivered an RBI single for a 1-0 lead.
Fairfield tied the game in the bottom of the inning off Sylvestre's solo home run with one out in the inning. The game remained deadlocked until the seventh inning during which both teams pushed runs across the plate. Lafayette used a three-run triple to break the game open which cleared all the bases to bring the score to 4-1. An error allowed the team's fourth run to score to send the Leopards to a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.
The Stags made a strong effort to tie the game when Kochakian and Whieldon combined for back-to-back doubles to bring their team one run closer.
Danica Silvestri aided the cause when her ground ball yielded Fairfield's third run but the Stags could not come any closer which resulted in a 5-3 setback.
Fairfield returns to action in the Maryland tournament on Sunday with another pair of games. The Stags will open the day with a game against Bryant University at 10 am and finish with a match up with host Maryland at 12:30 pm.
