The Fairfield University softball team will travel to Manhattan University for a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) doubleheader on April 21, according to an announcement made on April 20. The games are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
This matchup follows successful weekends for both teams. Manhattan recently swept a three-game series against Merrimack College, highlighted by a season-high of 19 runs in their final game. Fairfield took two out of three games against Siena University, rallying after an initial loss and securing the series with a doubleheader sweep that included an 11-inning victory.
Pitcher Peyton Shields played all 18 innings during Fairfield’s doubleheader sweep over Siena, earning a one-hit shutout in the first game and pitching another complete game in the second. Shields allowed only one run and seven hits across both games, improving her record to 8-7 with a 3.39 earned run average over 99 innings this season. Alyssa Weinberg leads the Stags’ pitching staff with eleven wins and has struck out an average of more than eight batters per seven innings.
Freshman Sarah Bielski contributed significantly during the Siena series, driving in three of four runs for Fairfield—including both the tying and winning runs in extra innings—and currently leads her team with a .319 batting average. Senior Anna Paravati regained the team lead for runs batted in after adding two more against Siena, bringing her total to twenty-five this season.
Manhattan enters Tuesday’s games with fourteen wins and twenty-eight losses overall but has won six of its last ten contests while scoring forty-seven runs during that span. Brianna Estevez boosted her offensive stats with five hits and six RBI against Merrimack; she now holds a .368 batting average and twenty-five RBI this year.
Following Tuesday’s doubleheader, Fairfield will continue MAAC play by hosting Rider University for three weekend games. The program also plans to honor its eight senior and graduate student-athletes before Sunday’s contest.
