Fairfield softball settles for split at Fort Madison

FORT MADISON — The Fairfield softball team needed two in Fort Madison to catch up to the Southeast Conference leaders on Monday night. Unfortunately for the eighth-ranked Trojans, they could only get one.

After handing out a 9-3 drubbing in Game 1, Fairfield stormed back from eight runs down in Game 2 but couldn’t quite pull it off, falling 10-9.

The Trojan bats were on fire in Game 1. Fairfield scored three funs in the first, five in the third and one in the fourth.

Danielle Breen had a huge game, going 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and five RBIs. Hannah Simpson wend deep as well, finishing 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and two RBIs. Coty Engle struck out eight batters over seven innings to earn the win in the circle.

Fairfield found itself down 10-2 after five innings, but the Trojans never said die. Fairfield plated two runs in the sixth and five in the seventh, but ran out of outs in the seventh.

Engle got it done at the plate in Game 2, going 2-for-3 with a double and four RBIs. Simpson was 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Laney Norris and Delaney Breen each saw time in the circle.

The split left Fairfield at 16-6 overall and 8-4 in conference play. They sit behind Fort Madison (12-2) and Burlington (10-3) in the race for the SEC title.