March 3, 2007
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Fairfield University softball team opened the 2007 season with a pair of losses at the Tar Heel Invitational, as the Stags fell to the host school by a 1-0 score and to Liberty University by an 8-0 count in five innings. The Stags resume action in the Tar Heel Invitational by taking on Rutgers University on Saturday afternoon.
In the first game, North Carolina scored the game's only run when Jennifer Jacobs led off the inning by being hit by a pitch. A pair of back-to-back singles sent home the runner, providing the game's only offense. Tar Heel pitcher Lisa Norris struck out 13 batters and allowed just one hit to earn the victory. Norris fanned at two batters in all but the second inning. Dani Griswold recorded the Stags only hit, a triple in the second frame, but was left stranded when Norris registered the third out with a strike out.
Liberty scored eight runs in the nightcap to post the win, tallying runs in each of the first three innings. The Flames plated two runs in the top of the first and added four more runs in the second inning to put the game out of reach. Liberty's Beth Bennett went three for three with a pair of home runs, while Riannon Thomas provided Fairfield's lone hit.
