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Mia Preuhs (left) and Ella Johel celebrate Johel's walk-off home run in Canisius' 7-5 victory over Fairfield on March 29, 2026.
Lindy Feider
5
Fairfield FAIRFIEL 9-17, 5-4 MAAC
7
Winner Canisius CANISIUS 6-16, 2-6 MAAC
Fairfield FAIRFIEL
9-17, 5-4 MAAC
5
Final
7
Canisius CANISIUS
6-16, 2-6 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Fairfield FAIRFIEL 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 5 9 0
Canisius CANISIUS 0 3 0 1 0 0 3 7 8 1

W: Preuhs, Mia (1-0) L: Peyton Shields (3-7)

8
Winner Fairfield FAIRFIEL 10-17, 6-4 MAAC
6
Canisius CANISIUS 6-17, 2-7 MAAC
Winner
Fairfield FAIRFIEL
10-17, 6-4 MAAC
8
Final
6
Canisius CANISIUS
6-17, 2-7 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Fairfield FAIRFIEL 0 0 4 1 1 0 0 2 8 12 0
Canisius CANISIUS 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 6 8 2

W: Alyssa Weinberg (6-7) L: Bodewes, Brooke (2-3)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball Scores Doubleheader Split with Fairfield

A three-run walk-off homer by junior Ella Johel helped lead the Canisius softball team to a doubleheader spilt with Fairfield in MAAC softball action Sunday afternoon at the Demske Sports Complex. Johel's three-run shot, her team-leading fourth homer of the season, gave the Golden Griffins a 7-5 win in the day's first game, and it also ended the Blue and Gold's seven-game losing skid.
 
In the nightcap, Canisius battled back from a 6-1 deficit to knot the game at 6-6, but eventually fell to the Stags, 8-6 in eight innings. Canisius is now 6-17 overall and 2-7 in league play, while Fairfield moved to 10-17 overall and 6-4 in conference games.
 
GAME ONE RECAP
Trailing 5-4 heading into the home-half of the seventh, junior Alyssa Onyeagwa got the Griffs' rally started with a base hit to right field. After Fairfield lifted starting pitcher Alyssa Weinberg for reliever Peyton Shields, senior Bailey Alatorre reached first via a walk, which allowed Onyeagwa to move to second base. Johel followed Alatorre and promptly pounded a 2-0 pitch over the fence in left to give Canisius the walk-off victory at 7-5.
 
Fairfield jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Griffs answered by scoring three times in the bottom of the second to knot the game at 3-3. Canisius' first run came on a RBI-triple by junior Mia Martin, and Martin later scored on a base hit to right off the bat of freshman Maddy Hans. Hans crossed the plate later in the frame on Onyeagwa's double to the gap in right center. That double was one of Onyeagwa's three hits in the first game of the twin bill.
 
In the fourth, Onyeagwa gave the Blue and Gold their first lead of the day with an RBI-single to center that allowed Martin to score. Fairfield tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth, and then took a 5-4 lead in the top-half of the seventh thanks to an RBI-single back up the middle off the bat of Delaney Whieldon. Fairfield had a runner at second with one out in the seventh, but Canisius freshman Mia Preuhs got the final two outs in the frame, setting the stage for Johel's walk-off heroics.
 
Preuhs earned the win in relief, her first collegiate victory in the circle, after she allowed an unearned run on one hit in 1.2 innings of work. Shields took the loss in relief for the Stags after she gave up the homer to Johel.
 
Canisius was good for eight hits in the game one victory, with Onyeagwa and Johel accounting for five of those hits. Martin went 1-for-2 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk in the win for Canisius.
 
GAME TWO RECAP
In the second game of the MAAC doubleheader, Canisius jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the home-half of the second inning thanks to an RBI-double by sophomore Grace Walker, which allowed Johel to score from second base. From there, the Stags scored the game's next six runs to make the score 6-1 in favor of the visiting team. Fairfield scored four of those six runs in the top-half of the third, with the key hit coming off the bat of Quinn McGonigle, who smacked a two-run homer over the fence in left that made the score 4-1.
 
Canisius rallied back and eventually tied the game at 6-6 in the sixth, highlighted by a four-run fifth inning. In that frame, Alatorre drove in a pair with a base hit to left, and freshman Talia Yermian recorded her first career home run, a two-run shot down the left field line, that made the score 6-5 in favor of the Stags. Hans' single to right with two outs in the sixth pushed junior Rebecca Hai across the plate to tie the contest at 6-6.
 
After both teams left a runner on base in the seventh, Fairfield took the lead for good in the top-half of the eighth inning thanks to an RBI-double by catcher Ava Armuth, which pushed teammates Anna Paravati and Evelyn Wozniak across the dish. Weinberg retired the Griffs in order in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win in relief, her sixth victory in the circle this season.
 
Freshman Brooke Bodewes took the loss in relief for Canisius after she allowed two runs on three hits to go with two strikeouts and three walks in 2.2 innings of work. As a team, Canisius had eight hits off four different Fairfield pitchers in the second game. Hans went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in the losing effort, while Alatorre and Yermian each had two runs batted in for Canisius.
 
GAME NOTES
• Canisius and Fairfield met for the 90th and 91st time in series history on Sunday. Sunday also marked the first time the Griffs hosted the Stags at the Demske Sports Complex in the regular season since 2023.
• Canisius is 50-41 all-time against Fairfield, and the Griffs are 27-11 at home against the Stags after Sunday's split.
• Johel's walk-off homer in the first game was the first in her career.
• Onyeagwa's three-hit effort in the game one victory marks the third time in the team's last five contests where she has recorded multiple hits.
• Martin's RBI-triple in the first game serves as both her first career triple and her first career RBI as a Griff.
• Hans and Johel both extended their hitting streaks to five games with base knocks in both contests on Sunday.
• Alatorre's two RBI in the nightcap was her team-leading fourth game this season with multiple runs batted in.

UP NEXT
Canisius will start a seven-game road stretch on Wednesday, April 1, when the Griffs travel to play at long-time rival St. Bonaventure for a non-conference doubleheader. The first game of the two-game set in Olean, N.Y., is set for 3 p.m., and both games against the Bonnies will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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