FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Due to a forecast of inclement weather, changes have been made to the Fairfield-Marist softball weekend series. The two teams will move their Saturday doubleheader to Friday with the twin bill being played at Alumni Softball Field on the Fairfield campus. The game times will remain at 1 & 3 pm. Please check back for updates on the third game of the series.
The Stags finished off a six-game home stand that saw them walk away with six wins including five contests against MAAC opponents. Fairfield opened the string of home games with a non-conference win against Central Connecticut State University before sweeping Manhattan in a three-game series and Merrimack in a doubleheader. The team currently has won nine straight games which improved its overall record to 14-16 and its MAAC mark to 8-0.
The success on this home stand has come from several sources both in the batter's box and in the pitching circle. As a team, Fairfield recorded a team batting average of .342 with 30 runs scored in six games. Also, the pitching staff combined for a 6-0 record with a 0.70 ERA, striking out 37 hitters in 40 innings pitched. Defensively, the program committed just four errors in 157 chances during the six-game stretch.
Emma Marchese emerged as a threat offensively over the last six games, batting .857 with six hits in seven at-bats in addition to three RBI. She has played in 10 games this season with six of those coming on the recent home stand. Three other Fairfield student-athletes batted better than .400 during the same stretch, including
Morgan Sylvestre (.556 batting average),
Quinn McGonigle (.438), and
Anna Paravati (.421). McGonigle and freshman
Christina Minor were solid options in combined run production as McGonigle posted six RBI and scored three runs while Minor added four RBI and four runs scored.
Four different Fairfield pitchers earned a win over the last six outings with
Alyssa Weinberg, the current MAAC Pitcher of the Week, posting three wins in three starts. The junior fanned 29 batters in 21 innings, highlighted by 16 against Merrimack last Tuesday. Freshman
Grace Conrad earned her first collegiate win against Central Connecticut while
Peyton Shields collected her first victory of the season against Merrimack.
Chela Kovar collected win number two in the Manhattan series, joining Weinberg as the team's multi-game winners. Weinberg leads the MAAC with 117 strikeouts in 101-plus innings pitched, averaging just over eight strikeouts per seven innings on the season.
McGonigle represents the team's top hitter overall this season with a .364 batting average which goes along nicely with her 13 RBI and 24 hits in 26 games.
Charli Warren anchors the offense with a .361 batting average that has allowed her to score a team-best 26 runs and steal a conference-best 21 bases in 30 games played. Paravati paces the Stags with 21 RBI as well as well as seven doubles.
Marist enters the weekend with a 28-5 overall record and a 5-0 MAAC mark as well as with a 17-game winning streak that dates back to a 5-1 setback to Winthrop on February 28. During the 17-game run, the Red Foxes have tallied 10 or more runs in eight games.
Pitcher Kiley Myers owns a 14-0 record through her 16 appearances this season which also includes two saves with seven shutouts and a 0.56 ERA. She tossed a no-hitter in her last outing, an 8-0 decision over Canisius University last Tuesday. Maddie Pleasants has also accumulated eight victories with a 2.81 ERA while Anna Sidlowski is next in line with six wins and a 2.04 ERA over 10 appearances.
Haley Ahr and Miah McDonald have dominated at the plate this season, combining for 104 hits, 22 home runs, and 79 RBI. Ahr possesses a .532 batting average with six homers and 34 RBI while her teammate McDonald owns 16 home runs with 45 RBI and 54 hits over here 33 starts this season.
Following the Marist series, the Stags softball team will start another six-game home stand that includes a single game with Yale University on April 9, a three-game set with Niagara University on April 12-13 and a doubleheader with Sacred Heart. on April 15
