Fairfield University Athletics

2026: Peyton Shields put together her best season with the Stags, posting an 9-8 overall record with an 8-3 mark in MAAC play. She won five straight decisions in April until the streak came to an end against Rider on April 24. During the month, she owned a 1.98 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 49-plus innings of work. She earned the MAAC Pitcher of the Week when she won both ends of a doubleheader against Siena which included an 11-inning 2-1 victory in the second game. She opened with a complete-game shutout in the first match up, allowing Siena just one run over 18 innings of work that day. She fanned a season-best eight batters in a 12-0 five-inning win over Merrimack which was also her first win of the season. Since that Merrimack win, she posted an 8-3 overall record with a 1.90 ERA and 35 strikeouts over 80.2 innings pitched through the end of the regular season.

2025: Shields has provided Fairfield with another viable option in the pitching circle over the final few weeks of 2025. The sophomore has her last three regular-season decisions, picking up wins against Siena, Iona, and Quinnipiac. Before the Siena game, Shields had not thrown more than 5.2 innings in a game which came against Wofford on February 16. In her last six regular-season appearances, she completed three of the four games she started, earning the victories against Siena, Iona, and Quinnipiac games. She also garnered her first career save in the second game of the Iona doubleheader, tossing the final two innings and allowing just one hit. Since April 22, Shields owned a 1.77 ERA with six strikeouts over 31.2 innings of work to close out the regular-season. All of five of her victories have come against MAAC opponents (Merrimack, Niagara, Siena, Iona, and Quinnipiac). She her season high for strikeouts with three against Merrimack (four innings), and went on to equal that number against Yale (four innings), and Saint Peter’s (3.1 innings). Shields threw four innings or more 10 times and allowed one run or less in eight of those outings.

2024: Shields worked her way into six games during her rookie season, four of which came against MAAC opponents. She fanned a personal-best three hitters during a three-inning stint against Yale University. Shields did not allow an earned run in four of her six appearances. She tossed a personal-best 4.2 innings at Rider during which she allowed three earned runs, the first of the season for Shields.

Before Fairfield: Shields joined the Fairfield softball program after earning honors as a pitcher at Caesar Rodney High School. The right hander earned All-State second team honors in the pitching circle following the 2021 campaign before garnering a first-team selection on the All-State team in 2022. She was also selected to the All-Conference Team after her junior season. Shields was also recognized for her success in the classroom, receiving All-Academic status as well as an invitation to the National Honor Society.