Softball Falls in a Pair of Close Contests at Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, CONN. (April 16, 2022) - In two back-and-forth games that featured a little bit of everything, the Saint Peter's University softball team came out on the losing end of a pair of contests on the road at Fairfield University Saturday, dropping game one 6-4 before falling in game two 5-4.

Top Performers

• Junior Cara McNulty continued her hot hitting at the plate with a hit in both contests including a two-run home run in game one to give her four on the year.
• After a slow start to the season, Brandi Feeney has started to hit her stride offensively going 2 for 5 on the day and hitting her first big fly of the season in the first game.
• Senior Katie Sciglimpaglia extended her hitting streak to five games with a single hit in the first game and two including a double in the second.
• Junior Samantha Miller registered her second multi-hit game in the last three contests in game two of the doubleheader going 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI.
• Taylor Rondon came on in relief in game two in the circle and had a strong outing tossing 4.0 innings and only allowing one run on two hits.

How it Happened (Game One)

• The Stags took the first lead of the contest with a single run on an RBI single in the bottom of the second, but could not tack on any more as Kristen Brennan stranded a pair on base to preserve the deficit at 1-0.
• Feeney then gave the Peacocks the lead in the third when she laced a two-run home run over the wall in left center, bringing home herself along with Maiah Skakal and making the score 2-1.
• The Stags answered back with a three-run effort in the bottom half of the frame, only two of which were earned, thanks to an RBI double, an RBI single and a wild pitch to bring the score to 4-2 in favor of Fairfield.
• In the fifth, the Stags were able to tack on two more on a leadoff solo home run and a sacrifice fly to push the lead to four.
• McNulty provided another big blast for SPU in the sixth, bringing home Sciglimpaglia on a two-run home run to cut the deficit in half.
• The Peacocks were unable to complete the comeback, however, as Fairfield closed the door in the seventh to pick up the 6-4 victory.

How it Happened (Game Two) 

• Sciglimpaglia started the rally for SPU in the first inning of the second contest with a one-out double. She then moved to third on a single by McNulty and scored thanks to a sacrifice fly off the bat of Dakota Pitts.
• Kasidy Slusser led the second inning off with a double and moved to third on a groundout from Miller to put a runner 60 feet away with just one away.
• After Skakal reached on a hit by pitch, both players were able to come around to score when the second basemen airmailed a throw down the right field line to make the score 3-0 in favor of SPU.
• The Peacocks gave a run back in the bottom of the inning on an error to put the score at 3-1 heading into the third.
• Fairfield would take the lead for the first time in game two with a three-run effort in the bottom of the third highlighted by an RBI double and RBI triple on back-to-back at bats.
• Taylor Rondon came on in relief with a runner at second and nobody out and was able to limit the damage to just one more run coming across in the frame, making the score 4-3 in favor of Fairfield.
• In the fourth, Feeney started things off with a single into center and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Anja Solveig Kane and to third on a wild pitch.
• Miller would come up next and rip a line drive over the head of the shortstop to bring home Feeney and tie things up at four.
• The Stags re-took the lead in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a leadoff double, a sac bunt and a sacrifice fly to go on top 5-4.
• The Peacocks threatened in the top of the seventh as Aubrey Ketcham was hit by a pitch to lead things off and Sciglimpaglia singled and moved to second on a stolen base to put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out.
• It was not enough, however, as an infield foul out and a lineout ended the contest and gave the Stags the doubleheader sweep.

Inside the Numbers

• The loss for the Peacocks snapped a three-game winning streak and dropped them to 14-21 overall and 1-5 in MAAC play this season.
• After the doubleheader sweep, SPU is now 2-5 in one-run games and 4-9 in games decided by two runs or less.
• With two more home runs in game one, the Peacocks now have 12 bombs as a team this season, the most since 2019.
• The four home runs for McNulty is the most for an SPU player since Theamaris Ramirez had six in the 2019 season. She is also now riding a six-game hitting streak.

From the Dugout (Head Coach Chris Stelma) 

• "Not the result we wanted today, but these are the types of games that make you tough down the stretch. Fairfield is a playoff contender year after year and to be able to play two competitive games with them like this is great. I'm looking forward to our next stretch of MAAC games. This team is starting to come together and is really growing!"

Next Up

• The Peacocks will take on Lafayette College in a road doubleheader Tuesday in Easton, Pa., starting at 3:00 p.m.

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