FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University softball team plays the first two of five games this week when the Stags travel to Manhattan University for a midweek Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) doubleheader. The two teams will meet up on Tuesday, April 21 beginning at 2 pm.

Both teams come off a successful weekend with Manhattan sweeping a three-game series with Merrimack College on the road and Fairfield taking two of three games in a set against Siena University on its home diamond. The Jaspers finished off their weekend with a season-high 19 runs in the victory against Merrimack, putting together a six-run second inning to erase a three-run deficit before posting 10 runs in the third inning which took control of the contest. Fairfield dropped the first game of its three-game series with the Saints before rallying for a doubleheader sweep on Saturday which included an 11-inning decision in game three.

Pitcher Peyton Shields was in the pitching circle for all 18 innings in the doubleheader sweep, winning the first with a one-hit shutout before going 11 innings in the second game for her second complete-game victory on the day. She allowed just one run and seven hits in her 18 innings of work, improving her overall record to 8-7 with a 3.39 ERA through 99 innings. Alyssa Weinberg paces the pitching staff with 11 wins and a save in 122 innings, fanning 143 batters for an average of 8.4 strikeouts per seven innings of work.

Freshman Sarah Bielski was responsible for three of the four RBI in the sweep of Siena including the tying run in the second inning and the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 11th. She also drove home the team's second run in the 2-0 win from game one of the twin bill. She leads the team in hitting with a.319 batting average, placing in the top five among her teammates with 17 RBI. Senior Anna Paravati took back the lead for RBI with a pair against Siena, giving the infielder 25 for the season in 41 starts. Sammie Dougherty is a close second in that category with 24 RBI while her 34 hits is tied with Paravati for the top spot on the Fairfield statistics sheet.

Manhattan enters the doubleheader with a 14-28 overall record and a 9-11 MAAC mark following their three wins at Merrimack, giving the Jaspers six wins in their last 10 outings. The team has scored 47 runs in those 10 games including two double-digit efforts - 12 runs in a win versus Siena and 19 runs in a victory over Merrimack.

Brianna Estevez enhanced her team-leading offensive numbers with a five-for-five performance with six RBI in the team's 19-6 decision over Merrimack, giving her a .368 batting average with 25 RBI in 42 starts this season. Natalye DeBus has dominated the opposing pitchers this season with a team-best 32 RBI in addition to pacing her teammates with 10 doubles and 10 home runs. Karissa Spring and DeBus have split a majority of the innings in the pitching circle with Spring registering a 5-8 record over 112 innings and DeBus recording a 6-6 mark over her 93 innings.

Fairfield will continue MAAC play this weekend when it hosts a three-game series with Rider University, playing a pair of games on Saturday and a single game on Sunday. Prior to Sunday's game, the softball program will honor their eight senior and graduate student-athletes before the first pitch.