NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Fairfield University softball team headed north for a single game with Yale University on Wednesday afternoon, falling to the Bulldogs by a 4-3 count.
The Stags took the lead in their first at-bat, taking advantage of
Ava Armuth's lead off walk. After the sophomore reached first base, AJ Mull dropped a sacrifice fly to send the runner into scoring position.
Anna Paravati laced a run-scoring single to put Fairfield in front.
The Bulldogs responded with three runs of their own, stringing together four hits which included a lead single from Ella Gandolfo. A single put two runners on the base paths which set up Ava Kainrath's two-run double to left field. Kainrath eventually scored when she was on the front end of a double steal, swiping the plate to provide the home team with a 3-1 lead.
Yale would tack on one more run to its first-inning total as Elena Ohe lofted a sacrifice fly to left field that pushed the fourth run across the plate.
Fairfield put together a couple of offensive rallies with both producing a single run that brought the visiting team within a run. In the fourth inning, Paravati found the left-center field gap with a line drive that put the infielder on second base.
Quinn McGonigle brought her classmate across home plate following a fielder's choice.
The Stags put one more run on the board in the sixth inning, an opportunity that started with McGonigle's two-out walk. She secured second following a wild pitch before
Sammie Dougherty finished the rally with a single to left field. Fairfield was retired in order in the top of the seventh inning to close out the game.
Peyton Shields occupied the pitching circle for the first two innings and yielded the four runs to Yale.
Alyssa Weinberg tossed the final four innings and did not allow a run or hit, striking out six against just two walks.
The Fairfield University softball team returns to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play with a three-game series at Merrimack College. The Stags will play a pair of games on Saturday afternoon before finishing up the series by playing a single game on Sunday.
