FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A five-run sixth inning sent the Fairfield University softball past Niagara University by a 6-3 score in the deciding game of the three-game series.
Morgan Sylvestre,
Charli Warren,
Delaney Whieldon, and
Anna Paravati each picked up an RBI in the multi-run rally.
The Stags were the first to light up the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning with Warren serving as the catalyst for the offense. She hit a hard grounder up the middle that was deflected by the pitcher, resulting in an infield hit. After Whieldon pushed her to second with a ground out,
Ava Armuth ripped a gapper to left-center field for an RBI double.
Pitcher
Alyssa Weinberg made the run stand until the Purple Eagles finally broke through in the fourth inning with a single run off a pair of doubles that knotted the score at 1-1. The visitors added two more runs in their next at-bat with the damage coming off a two-run single by Bri Delaney.
Fairfield was kept in check with its one run until the bottom of the sixth when the team pieced together five hits and two walks to cross the plate five times. Seven straight Stags reached base during the rally which started with singles by
Emma Marchese and
Christina Minor. Fairfield's
Danica Silvestri and
Morgan Sylvestre worked out consecutive runs to bring home the first run and close the gap to 3-2.
Warren put the Stags in front for good with a two-run single that brought the score to 4-3 in Fairfield's favor with still just one out. Whieldon and
Anna Paravati rounded out the stretch by each stroking a base hit, closing the inning with Fairfield holding a 6-3 lead.
Peyton Shields, who entered the game to start the sixth inning, put the Purple Eagles down in order to earn her second win of the season. In the two innings of work, Shields allowed just two base runners off a single, a walk, and no runs. Weinberg fanned four hitters and scattered seven hits through her five innings in the circle.
Fairfield will return to the diamond on Tuesday when the team hosts Sacred Heart University for a pair of games, beginning at 2 pm. The doubleheader will end a stretch during which Fairfield played 14 consecutive games at Alumni Softball Field. The home stand comes to an end when the Stags visit the University of Connecticut on Wednesday, April 16.ac
