NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – In a doubleheader with the 2015 MAAC champion Fairfield Stags, the Purple Eagles softball team won the first game of the afternoon in dramatic walk-off fashion. Jerri Ann Orfano's second home run of the weekend gave Niagara a 2-1 win over Fairfield before the Stags took game two 15-1 Sunday afternoon at Niagara Softball Field.
 
Sarah March and Chanelle Ward each hit 2-for-5 as Niagara (4-26, 2-4 MAAC) picked up a split in a doubleheader for the second consecutive day. Maria Gabriele registered an RBI double in the win, while Jennifer Szilagyi and Bridget Hogan also registered one hit apiece in addition to Orfano's home run.
 
Niagara 2, Fairfield 1
 
After the first three Purple Eagles batters were held off base to start the day, Hogan singled down the right field line for Niagara's first hit. With two outs on the board, Gabriele slammed a double deep toward the wall in left field, making it to second while Hogan scored from first to give Niagara the early 1-0 lead.
 
After throwing five shutout innings in relief against St. Bonaventure on Thursday, freshman pitcher Sierra Bertrand took a shutout effort into the top of the seventh inning against the Stags (17-16, 5-3 MAAC), allowing four hits while striking out four batters. Fairfield's Nicole Capra led off the seventh and ended the shutout with a solo home run to tie the game at 1-1. The Stags then put runners on first and second before Niagara's defense fielded two fly outs to end the inning tied.
 
Orfano led off for the Purple Eagles in the bottom of the seventh. The freshman took a swing at the first pitch she was thrown from Fairfield's Destinee Pallotto, and the ball sailed long over the right field wall for the walk-off home run.
 
Fairfield 15, Niagara 1
 
Bertrand started the second game of the day in the circle as well, but was pulled from the game in the second inning as Fairfield drove in three runs and had the bases loaded with one out. Sydney Smyers entered the game at that point, as the Stags scored all three of those runners before Smyers got the final two outs for Niagara.
 
The Stags then built upon that lead in the third inning, tacking on five more runs to go up 11-0. March popped her second double of the weekend to left center field, before advancing to third on a groundout by Timm. Ward was the next batter up, and her single brought March home to put Niagara on the board.
 
Both teams were held scoreless in the fourth, but the Stags tacked on four more runs in the fifth inning before taking the 15-1 victory over Niagara. This was the second consecutive season Niagara split the season series with Fairfield, as the Purple Eagles fell 8-2 before earning a 7-1 win on March 27, 2015.
 
The Purple Eagles hit the road for three doubleheaders in the upcoming week. Niagara travels to Akron for a two-game set on Tuesday, April 19 before returning to conference play with doubleheaders at Manhattan on Saturday, April 23 and at Saint Peter's on Sunday, March 24.
 
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