Taking to the road for the first time during the 2021 season following an eight-game home stand to kick things off, Siena Softball (4-6) split the opening doubleheader of a four-game mid-week series at MAAC rival Fairfield (7-5). The Stags took the opening contest, 4-2, before suffering a 7-0 shutout at the hands of the Saints at Alumni Softball Field.
 
Game 1: Fairfield 4, Siena 2
 
Kicking off a mid-week road affair after seeing the original four-game weekend series rescheduled from March 20 & 21, Siena got on the board right off the bat in game one, with senior Isabelle DeChiaro launching her second home run of the year over the fence in center field.
 
The big-fly would mark the only time in the contest that the Green and Gold held a lead, however, with the Stags stealing home and scoring on a sacrifice fly to take a 2-1 lead in the third and then pulling ahead by two with an RBI double in the fourth.
 
Sophomore Emma McLaughlin used a fielder's choice to send home junior Sabrina Vargas and make it a one-run ballgame in the top of the sixth, but a bases-loaded walk in the bottom half of the frame secured a 4-2 win for the home team.
 
Fairfield moved through the better part of the game with the lead thanks to the pitching of Katie Kudlacik, who improved to 3-0 on the season with a complete game effort, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out four. Siena's Maddie McMahon (1-1) took her first loss of the year, allowing four runs on eight hits, walking three, and striking out one in five innings in the circle. Sophomore Nicole Patille struck out a pair in the final frame. Siena received hits from DeChiaro, Vargas, junior Yamila Evans, and freshman Isabella Pardo in the loss.
 
Game 2: Siena 7, Fairfield 0
 
The Saints turned things around in the second game by jetting out to an early lead and posting their first shutout since defeating Fairfield in the MAAC Tournament on May 8, 2019. McLaughlin and Evans teamed together to give the Saints a 3-0 lead after the first inning, with the sophomore scoring Vargas on an RBI double to left center, and the junior plating the former and DeChiaro on a single to right field.
 
Siena tacked on four more insurance runs over the next three frames, with Vargas singling up the middle with the bases loaded in the second to allow freshman Mikala Fletcher and senior Taylor Rhinehart to score. DeChiaro and Vargas would both cross the plate for the second time in the top of the fourth thanks to a wild pitch, giving the game its final score.
 
Along with stranding six Fairfield baserunners defensively, the Siena pitching duo of Patille and classmate Allison Speshyock worked together to keep the Stags off the board. Speshyock (3-1) picked up the win for the second straight appearance, striking out one batter off just four hits in four scoreless frames. Patille earned her first career save over the final three innings, tying a season-best with six strikeouts of no-hit ball. Fairfield's Lauryn Rhinehart took the loss, surrendering five earned runs on two hits, while walking five and allowing her sister to cross the plate against her. Evans went 2-4 at the plate to lead the Saints offensively in the win.
 
Having split its fourth straight doubleheader, Siena will look for its first series win of the year on Thursday, April 8, with doubleheader action against the Stags set for 12 PM & 2 PM.