FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After traveling to Texas and North Carolina, the Fairfield University softball team worked in a weekend off, the last one for more than a month. Now, the Stags will look to a four-game set at the Terrapin Invitational, hosted by the University of Maryland.
The team will play a pair of games on Friday morning before tacking on a single game on Saturday and Sunday. The Stags open with Providence College (10 am) and Syracuse University (12:30 pm) on the first day before completing its stay with a match up against the host school on Saturday at 5:30 pm and UMBC on Sunday at 12:30 pm. All games will be broadcasted on B1G+.
Fairfield has enjoyed a solid start to its season, splitting a four-game stretch at the University of Houston Tournament before picking another win at UNC-Greensboro's Spiro Classic. With a 3-5 mark, the Stags will look to have the formidable task of making up ground against teams from the ACC, the Big East, the Big Ten, and America East.
Head Coach
Julie Brzezinski will look to her senior left-hander
Alyssa Weinberg to pace the Stags from the pitching circle. The senior owns a 2-2 record with 16 strikeouts in 17.2 innings of work. She has one shutout to her credit, a one-hitter in the season opener against Houston Christian University.
Chela Kovar has the third Fairfield victory on the season, earning the decision in relief against Houston Christian.
Quinn McGonigle and
Anna Paravati have found early season success from the batter's box. McGonigle holds a slight edge with her .385 batting average as compared to Paravati's .381 hitting percentage but both paced the team with six RBI. Freshman
Sarah Bielski has earned her share of attention with her .375 batting average in her eight starts this season, picking up a pair of walks to raise her on-base percentage to .423. She is one of only 41 hitters listed in the Division I statistics without a strikeout this season (24 at-bats).
Providence sports a 2-7 overall record heading into the weekend set, coming off a 1-3 run at the North Carolina State Tournament two weekends ago. Cameron Dunn has started the season as well as can be expected as illustrated by her .478 batting average. She has 11 hits with seven coming of the extra base variety. Her four home runs and eight RBI lead the team. Pitcher Alyssa Twomey has registered both Providence wins from the circle, recording 17 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
Syracuse has won seven of its first 12 outings, sweeping the University of Toledo and splitting a pair with the host school at the Liberty Classic last weekend. Jadyn Burney is one of three Syracuse student-athletes to start all 12 games, leading her to a team-best .417 hitting percentage. Madison Knight has been the team's top run producer with four home runs and 10 RBI as well as the top pitcher with her 5-2 record and two complete games.
Maryland split two games at the Liberty Softball Classic, shutting out Toledo by a 4-0 count before falling to Liberty by a 3-2 score to bring its overall record to 6-9. Sammi Woods has set the standard so far for the Terrapins with her .396 batting average with 19 hits in 15 games. Anna McGowan chips in with a pair of home runs and a team-leading 10 RBI through her 14 appearances. Pitcher Keira Bucher owns a 3-1 record with an impressive 1.91 ERA in her six outings, five of which came from the bullpen.
UMBC opened its season at the Wofford Invitational on the weekend of February 13. The team returned with a 1-3 record which included a season-opening win over St. Bonaventure. Taylor and Kenzie Nicholson are the top two hitters on the roster, collecting a .364 and a .333 batting average, respectively. Maggie Frisvold came home with a 1-1 record and a 1.62 ERA, fanning 17 in 13 innings pitched.
Following this weekend's Terrapin Invitational, Fairfield will open Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play by hosting Marist University for a doubleheader on Saturday, March 6 and a single game on Sunday, March 7.
