EMMITSBURG, Md. -- The Fairfield University softball team opened its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) schedule with a sweep of Mount St. Mary's, a day which was highlighted by Quinn McGonigle hitting for the cycle in game two. The junior tripled in the first inning, doubled in the third inning, singled in the fourth inning, and homered in the fifth inning to finish the game with four RBI.

The Stags stroked 20 hits in the twin bill and scored multiple runs in six of the 12 innings played during the afternoon. The two victories today clinched the three-game series for Fairfield with the same two teams meeting for the third game on Sunday afternoon.. 

While the bats were causing problems for the home team, the Stags pitching staff also created issues for The Mount in the two games. Junior Alyssa Weinberg recorded her sixth win of the season by allowing just one run in the first game of the doubleheader. She scattered six hits and fanned eight batters in picking up her eighth complete game in 11 starts. 

The Stags scored the game's first run with a two-out rally that started when Charli Warren drew a walk. She stole second base and moved up to third following a passed ball, setting up Delaney Whieldon's RBI single to make it a 1-0 game. Fairfield broke the game open in the fourth inning, plating four runs with just one hit. The home team committed three errors in the inning but it was Anna Paravati's two-run single with two outs that highlighted the inning.

Mount St. Mary's broke up the shutout in the bottom of the seventh inning, using three straight hits to start the inning. A leadoff double by Tristin Koerner set up the scoring rally which was followed by singles from Brianna Manni and pinch hitter Courtney Chew. Weinberg settled in after Chew's base hit and collected two ground outs and a strikeout to close out the win.

In the second game, Warren immediately put pressure on The Mount defense when she reached on an error to start the game and stole second to put herself in scoring position. Paravati brought her home with a base hit and Ava Armuth became the second base runner on the paths with her single. McGonigle followed with the first of her four hits, lacing a triple to left field which produced the other two runs.

Fairfield padded its lead with two more runs in the second inning, the first coming off Whieldon's RBI ground out and the second being a result of another Paravati base hit. Mount St. Mary's equaled that run total in its half of the inning, using a pair of singles to set up the inning and using a grounder and a bunt to bring those runners around the base paths.

The third inning saw two more Fairfield runners cross home plate with McGonigle starting the rally with a two-base hit and Martina Gutierrez adding a single to put runners on the corners. Morgan Sylvestre stroked an RBI ground out for the first RBI which Warren followed with a base hit, bringing the score to 7-1.

The Stags posted four runs in the fourth frame as Gutierrez recorded an RBI single and Warren added an two-run base hit in the inning. Fairfield's final two runs came in the fifth inning off McGonigle's home run over the left field fence. Chela Kovar earned her first win of the season by going four innings before yielding to Peyton Smith who gained the final three outs.