FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- In what turned out to be a classic pitcher's duel, the Fairfield University softball team came up one run short against Yale as the Bulldogs held on for a 2-1 win at Alumni Softball Field. 

Stags pitchers Bailey Taylor and Peyton Shields did their best against a Yale team that not only sits on top of the Ivy League standings but also paces the conference in hits, runs scored, and, total bases. But today, Fairfield pitching duo held the Bulldogs in check for most of the game, yielding just five hits and allowing runs in just one inning. The problem became that Yale's pitching staff was just as solid and also held Fairfield to five hits, but more importantly, surrendered just one run.

Both teams started the game well offensively with the visitors picking up a pair of hits to put runners on first and second in the top of the first before Taylor worked her way out of the jam. In the bottom of the frame, Morgan Sylvestre and Allie Bridgman stroked back-to-back singles in the same fashion as their counterparts but Sylvestre was able to reach third base. A line drive to the shortstop ended the threat and kept the game scoreless.

After two more scoreless innings, Yale finally broke up the deadlock by coming up with another pair of singles to put runners on first and second. A fly ball to right field allowed one runner to advance to third base while the trailing runner would eventually take second with stolen base. With two runners in scoring position, Katie Donahey delivered a two-run single to center field that brought both runners around the base paths to push the score to 2-0.

The Stags went hitless in the fourth and fifth innings, keeping the two-run deficit in place. Fairfield showed some life in the sixth inning though when Charli Warren was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Sylvestre followed with her third hit of the game to put runners on first and second. Hannah Turner, Yale's third pitcher of the game, managed to retire the next three hitters and keep the shutout bid intact.

Fairfield made one more attempt to tie the game in the seventh, a rally which produced a run but not the tying run. Megan Forbes opened things with a four-pitch walk, and took second on a grounder to third base. After a strike out produced the second out. Martina Gutierrez laced her team-leading eighth double of the season to chase Forbes home and put herself in scoring position. An infield pop up to third base resulted in the final out of the game and ended Fairfield's comeback bid.

The Stags will regroup for a three-game series at Rider University this weekend, playing a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday. The three games are the final road dates for Fairfield in the regular season, starting off an eight-game home stand next Tuesday as its starts a three-game set against Quinnipiac on April 23-24