Merino Named MAAC Softball Rookie Of The Week

Outfielder Sam Merino (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) earned the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Softball Rookie of the Week after helping the Fairfield University softball team win four games last weekend to extend the team's winning streak to nine games. The Stags will open play in the 2018 MAAC Softball Tournament on Thursday as the number two seed, playing the winner of the Siena College-Marist College first-round game. 

Merino picked up at least one hit in all four games over the weekend, helping Fairfield post four wins in Western New York. She batted .500 for the week with six hits and seven RBI in the four games. Merino's two-run single gave Fairfield a 2-0 lead in the team's 3-0 win over Canisius in the opener of the doubleheader. She also hit her first collegiate homer which turned a 5-4 seventh-inning lead into an 8-4 win over Niagara.

For the season, Merino is hitting .348 which places her second on the team. The outfielder has 24 hits in her 45 appearances including four doubles and a home run. She owns a .416 on-base percentage, one of three Stags to have a .400 or higher percentage. Defensively, she has a .973 fielding percentage with just one miscue in 37 chances.