FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University softball team will open the week by hosting Merrimack College in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) doubleheader with first pitch slated for 1 pm. The Stags will complete a six-game home stand with this doubleheader, already posting a non-conference win over Central Connecticut State University as well as a three-game sweep against MAAC foe Manhattan University.
Fairfield enters Tuesday's MAAC doubleheader with a 6-0 conference ledger, joining Marist University as one of only two MAAC softball teams without a conference loss. The team's six wins are a result of two three-game sweeps over the last two weekends. The Stags took three games from Mount St. Mary's on the road to open conference play before they garnered another trio of wins from Manhattan.
Quinn McGonigle comes off a stellar week during which she hit .500 with six RBI and two multi-hit games, raising her team-leading batting average to .367. Her total is just a few points better than
Charli Warren's .363 hitting percentage, two of the team's five student-athletes batting better than .300 so far this season. The remaining players in the quintet include
Anna Paravati (.341 batting average),
Christina Minor (.314), and
Ava Armuth (.302). McGonigle (13th), Warren (15th), and Paravati (22nd) hold a position among the top 25 hitters in the MAAC statistics.
Alyssa Weinberg continues to dominate in the pitching circle, owning a 9-4 overall record with a 2.07 ERA and 101 strikeouts. The junior's strikeout total leads all MAAC pitchers, the only student-athlete with 100 strikeouts at this point of the season, while she places second in wins and third in ERA. Last week, Weinberg won both of her starts against Manhattan, allowing one earned run over her 14 innings of work in addition to striking out 13 hitters.
Merrimack brings a 6-15 overall record into the doubleheader which includes four MAAC wins in six outings. The team won both of its three-game series so far, taking two of three games from both Manhattan and Saint Peter's University. Since opening up MAAC play on March 22, Merrimack has posted a 4-4 record.
Ellen Hubbard has enjoyed an outstanding start to her season, recording a 438 batting average with team highs in hits (28) and runs scored (13). She picked up seven hits in 10 at-bats along with five runs scored the team's three-game set with Saint Peter's. Gabby Kaduson has been one of the team's top run producers, checking into the week with three home runs and 10 RBI. Pitchers Anna Gedacht and Emma Prahin pace the pitching staff with three wins each.
