BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Fairfield University softball team picked up a split with Canisius University this afternoon, falling in the first game by a 7-5 score before winning the second contest by an 8-6 count in eight innings.

The Stags built leads a couple of times in the opener, but the home team used a couple of big innings to overcome each of those deficits. In the top of the first inning, Sammie Dougherty and Quinn McGonigle each collected an RBI single to give a 2-0 lead to their teammates.

Sarah Bielski ripped a solo home run in the top of the second to raise the lead to three runs before the Griffs tallied three runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the score at 3-3. Canisius accomplished the task with an RBI triple, an RBI single, and an RBI double to plate its runs. The Griffs took the lead for the first time when Alyssa Onyeagwa recorded an RBI single in the fourth inning, her second RBI of the game.

Fairfield responded with a single run in the sixth inning off Alivia Macaluso's RBI fielder's choice that brought home Dougherty with the tying run. The Stags gained the lead once again in the seventh inning off Delaney Whieldon's RBI base hit that chased home SJ Mull for a 5-4 advantage.

The Griffs won the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, courtesy of Ella Johel's three-run home run that cleared the left field fence.

In the second game, Fairfield behind 1-0 on a second inning run that was quickly erased with the team's four-run third inning. Anna Paravati and Whieldon brought home the first two runs with an RBI double and a run-scoring single, respectively. McGonigle capped the inning with a two-run homer that brought the score to 4-1.

The Stags tacked on a single run in the fourth inning thanks to Bielski's RBI single and another in the fifth inning following a defensive miscue that made the score 6-1 in Fairfield's favor. Canisius nearly tied the game in the fifth inning after Bailey Alatorre's two-run single and Talia Yermain's two-run homer that brought Canisius within a run at 6-5. The game was tied in the sixth inning with a base hit that chased home the sixth run of the game.

Fairfield won the game in the eighth inning after Ava Armuth laced a two-run single that sent Evelyn Wozniak and Paravati with the deciding runs.

The Fairfield University softball team will play three non-conference games this week, beginning with a road game at the University of New Haven on Wednesday afternoon. The team caps its week with a doubleheader against the University of Maine on Thursday with first pitch slated for 2 pm.