FAIRFIELD, Conn. – While the majority of New Englanders are dealing with frigid temperatures, the Fairfield University softball team will find a means of escape this weekend when it opens the 2026 season in Houston.

The Stags will play four games this weekend, beginning with a single game against Houston Christian University and host University of Houston on Friday. The team will meet up once again on Saturday afternoon. The four games will mark the first time that the Stags will be on dirt since the end of last Fall.

"In past winters, we've are able to get outside," Head Coach Julie Brzezinski said. "But this winter has been tough. We've been on different surfaces like indoor turf and multi-purpose floors, so we have become adaptable. This weekend will be the first time we've been on dirt but that happens pretty much every year. When we get down to Houston, the team will be just excited to be outside and to play games."

There will be one distinction with this year's opening weekend, and this is that all three teams will be playing their first games of 2026, something that the Stags don't always find is the case. Take the last season for example. In 2025, Bethune-Cookman University (9 games), Stetson University (8 games), and Wofford College (8 games) had already been in competition by the time Fairfield arrived.

This year, the Stags will put one of its more experienced teams on the diamond beginning with captains Cara Kochakian, Anna Paravati, Alyssa Weinberg, and Delaney Whieldon. The foursome covers all aspects of the game from pitching and catching to offense and defense.

Weinberg and Whieldon spent most of the 2025 season as the team's top battery with Weinberg posting a team-best 18 wins with 190 strikeouts in 180 innings. Whieldon was the recipient of most of those pitches while keeping runners in check on the base paths. She posted a .301 batting average with a co-leading four home runs and 25 RBI while throwing out 12 base runners during the season.

Paravati earned the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2025 in addition to pacing the Stags' offense with a team-best 33 RBI in addition to her .331 batting average with 11 extra base hits. Kochakian bolstered the infield both as a starter and as a reserve, giving the coaching staff options at first base.

"Kara, Anna, Delaney, and Alyssa will give us the leadership and the experience that will help our team be successful this season," Brzezinski said. "They have been successful throughout their careers and have earned the respect of their teammates."

Coach Brzezinski also will look to seniors Quinn McGonigle, Martina Gutierrez, and Alivia Macaluso  as well as graduate student SJ Mull to contribute to the cause this season. McGonigle posted a .295 hitting percentage with nine extra base hits including three home runs as a junior. Gutierrez was another defensive anchor up the middle plus offering offensive help with her two doubles, home run, and eight RBI. Macaluso spent most of her appearances in the starting lineup, contributing at most of the infield positions. Mull comes to Fairfield after four seasons at Yale University where she racked up 107 starts along with her 62 hits and 40 runs scored.

Following the trip to Texas, Fairfield will remain on the road for the next two weekends. The Stags will travel south for a five-game slate hosted by UNC-Greensboro on February 13-15. Fairfield will play a pair of games against Columbia University and the host school plus a single contest with Appalachian State University.

After a week free from competition, the Stags will pick things up with a trip to the University of Maryland for four games, scheduling single games with Providence College and Syracuse University on February 27, Maryland on February 28, and UMBC on March 1.

Fairfield begins play in the Northeast on March 4 when it heads to Central Connecticut State University for one game before hosting a three-game series with Marist University as part of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opening weekend.