The Stags celebrated the 600th win of Head Coach Julie Brzezinski, during their first game against MAAC opponent, the Siena Saints.
Brzezinski, who is in her 13th season has a 355-337-5 record at Fairfield and averaged 28 wins per season through her first 12 seasons with the Stags.
The softball team started this past weekend strong with a two win sweep against their MAAC rival Marist led by the hits of seniors Allie Ritacco and Meghan Borst who both recorded four hits each.
The Stags began the first game against Marist with a 5-0 lead. In the bottom of the second Allie Wigand ’12 brought two runs in with a hit to put the Stags ahead. The runs continued to add up with senior Dani Griswold hitting a home run and Ritacco sending Borst with a single to right field making the score 4-0.
The score became 5-0 when Borst hit her third RBI bringing Wigand in to score. But Marist finally started to put up a fight in the sixth inning bringing in two runs and adding another two runs in the seventh inning.
This season Griswold is batting .597, which is ranked 100th in the nation. She is also the 285th toughest to strikeout in the nation, averaging just 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
But the Lady Stags didn’t let up and kept the score 5-4 winning the opener. The Stags continued their winning streak ending the second game 9-1. In the bottom of the fourth Borst brought in three runs with a double and the Stags finished off Marist with four runs in the bottom of the fifth.
On Sunday the softball team faced another MAAC rival, Siena. Siena scored the first three runs of the first game, two of which came off of the Saint’s freshman Shannon Jones.
Fairfield posted its first run in the bottom of that inning when Kristina Lingo ’11 laced a base hit that sent Kristie Trifiolis home.
The Saints added a run in the fifth inning when Jones registered her third hit and fourth RBI of the game, making the score 4-1.
The Stags tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, beginning with a single from Griswold.
She came home after Borst drilled a RBI double to pull the team within two runs at 4-2. Lingo added another RBI to her total with a base hit and Ritacco had the game-tying RBI with a sacrifice fly.
“Fairfield blew open the game with a five-run sixth inning, with the go-ahead run coming off the bat of Lingo for a 6-5 lead. Kayla Marth ’12 added a two-run double in the inning that gave Fairfield some insurance. Pitcher Sarah Minice ’11 did not need it though as she retired the Saints in order during the top of the seventh to secure her 11th win of the season. She yielded eight hits and struck out five hitters in her seven innings of work,” according to the Stag’s softball Web site.
In the second game, it was the Stags who jumped out to an early lead with a 2-1 edge after three innings.
Ritacco, a Trumbull native, drove home both runs with a bases-loaded walk in the first and a base hit in the third. Siena tied the game with a run in the fourth inning and took the lead with two more runs in the fifth inning.
Saint’s junior, Kirstyn Vaughn, brought the two runs home with a double to make the score 4-2.
The Stag’s finished off their weekend of MAAC competition with a split in their doubleheader against the Saints.
The Stags return to MAAC play with a series against Iona on campus on April 24. Fairfield also faces in-state rivals Hartford and Sacred Heart his week.
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