Vs. Fairfield - Game One Box Score
Vs. Fairfield - Game Two Box Score

NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara softball team (9-20; 2-2 MAAC) split a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader against the Fairfield Stags (21-22, 4-4 MAAC) on Monday afternoon at Niagara Field. The Purple Eagles dropped game one by a 6-5 score in 10 innings, while edging the Stags 2-1 in the second game.

"It was a tough loss in the first game, but I'm so proud of the way we responded in game two," head coach Al Dirschberger said. "I thought we played two good games against a tough team."

Fairfield 6, Niagara 5 (10 Innings)
The first game was a tightly contested affair that saw the Stags slip past the Purple Eagles. After a grand slam home run by Rae Ball off of senior pitcher Julie DiMatteo in the top of the fourth inning, the Stags had a 5-0 lead.

The Purple Eagles began the comeback in the fourth inning, when senior Jennifer Hare and junior Alexis Wayne led off the frame by hitting singles. After junior Sarah Anthon struck out, junior Gabrielle Lustrinelli singled to left field, scoring Hare for a 5-1 game. Senior Jaclyn Russell would bring Niagara within one with a three-run home run the center field wall.

Niagara completed the comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning, when sophomore Jessica Hitchcock extended her hit streak to three games and her consecutive reached base safely streak to seven games with a two-out double. Junior Becky Zill would tie the game a few pitches later, hitting a double down the left field line.

After two scoreless extra frames of softball, Fairfield would push a run across off of sophomore Kim Bryson, on in relief of DiMatteo. Bryson gave up a triple to Tiffany Lawson, scoring the game-winning run on a wild pitch a few pitches later.

The 6-5 setback was Niagara's longest game since a 9-6 loss to Iona in 13 innings last season.

Niagara 2, Fairfield 1 
Much like the first game, the second contest was close from beginning to end. The Purple Eagles scored all the runs they would need in the first inning, when a triple by Hare scored Zill and freshman Ambur Farmer. 

After pitching the top of the 10th inning in the first game, Bryson was Niagara's starter for game two. Bryson shut down the Stags, allowing just three hits and one run during the complete game win that saw her toss a career-high 14 strikeouts. The Perrysburg, Ohio native came one strikeout away from tying Niagara's Single-Game Strikeouts record, set by Joni Sontrop in 1998. 

Bryson now has 104 strikeouts on the season, placing her in fifth place on Niagara's Single-Season Strikeouts list, 10 off her total from 2011. The Ohio native is also in fifth place on Niagara's Career Strikeouts list, with 218 whiffs. 

Hitchcock extended her hit streak to four games in the win, also pushing her consecutive reached base safely streak to eight games.

The Purple Eagles are back in action on Wednesday, when they visit crosstown rival Buffalo in a Big Four doubleheader, beginning at 3 p.m.