Beginning on Friday, Feb. 18, the Fairfield University softball team took the field for the first time this season. The Stags, among other teams, have participated in the Wolfpack Classic hosted at Dail Stadium at North Carolina State University.
Their season slate began against North Carolina State University themselves according to the official Fairfield University softball schedule; this game saw the Stags being handed a difficult 2-5 loss.
Immediately after, however, the Stags had the chance to bounce right back against the Mount Saint Mary’s University Athenians, which they did. The team was able to topple their competition by a score of 11-6.
Sophomore Allie Bridgman took the mound for the second game of the day, but her defensive performance was not the only highlight for her day. She was able to record three hits as well as a home run in the Stags’ impressive win over Mount Saint Mary’s.
The second day of action saw two more games: one against a familiar opponent in NC State and one against a new challenger in Lehigh University. In a 10:00 a.m. tilt against Lehigh, the team was unable to hold onto their early lead which led the game into extra innings. In the eleventh frame of play, Fairfield scored one, whereas Lehigh scored two, giving them the edge by just one score to win the game 8-9.
That same afternoon was no walk in the park for the Stags, as they were routed by NC State by a final score of 1-16. NC State’s relentless offense in the first, second and third innings of the game was simply too much for the Stags to handle, even though they did secure a sole score of their own in the fourth inning. Junior Meghan Forbes was able to produce the lone point for the Stags.
In the final game of the tournament on Sunday, Feb. 20, the Stags had a chance to take revenge against the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks, who they were previously stunned by in extra innings. Although a much closer game than the morning’s festivities, the Stags were just edged out by a final score of 2-3.
Senior shortstop Madison Robicheau registered two hits in three at-bats, which led the team on the day. Another impressive performance on the mound by Bridgman was not enough to propel the Stags over the Mountain Hawks for the second time.
The squad will have a little less than a week to regroup and prepare after their trip to North Carolina. Later on this week, they will take to Tampa, FLA. in the USF Tournament hosted by the University of South Florida.
In Tampa, they will play teams like St. John’s University, Saint Joseph’s University and the University of South Florida themselves, with two games in between to be determined.
They will play in two other tournaments before their regular season fully kicks off; the first is the Thundering Herd Invite hosted by Marshall University in Huntington, W. VA. The second will be the Rutgers University Tournament hosted in Piscataway, N.J.
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