Amanda Eaglin's Stellar Pitching, Taylor Brown's Walk-Off Lifts Softball Over Fairfield

Wednesday, March 18

West Point, N.Y.

3 p.m.

Army West Point

11-14

Fairfield

7-14

Fairfield

Army West Point

Photo by: Mady Salvani

Amanda Eaglin's Stellar Pitching, Taylor Brown's Walk-Off Lifts Softball Over Fairfield

March 18, 2026 | Softball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. — Army West Point softball (11-14) returned to the Army Softball Complex on Wednesday, hosting the Fairfield University Stags (7-14) for a midweek matchup, earning an extra-innings walk-off win, 2-1.

Army combined a dominant outing from Amanda Eaglin with late-game heroics from Taylor Brown, who delivered a walk-off home run to lift the Black Knights to a victory over the Stags.

Offensively, Ashton White and Caitlyn Newburn led the way, hitting .667 with two hits, with White earning two singles, and Newburn adding a single and a double. Samantha Sims also added a single, then Taylor Brown added her home run. Breanna Coonfare had a sacrifice fly for an RBI, and Brown had the other RBI.

Amanda Eaglin dominated in the circle, receiving the start while pitching for 8.0 innings. The senior only allowed one hit, one unearned run and two walks. Eaglin also added a season-high seven strikeouts while earning her fourth win of the season.

How It Happened

From the start, Amanda Eaglin controlled the game in the circle. She opened the first inning by striking out two batters and inducing a groundout, setting the tone with her command and ability to miss bats. She followed with another efficient second inning, retiring the side in order and keeping Fairfield completely off the bases through two frames.

Fairfield's only run came in the third inning, and even that was unearned. After an Army error allowed a runner to reach, Fairfield used a fielder's choice and a two-out RBI single to take a 1–0 lead. Despite the setback, Eaglin stayed composed and limited the damage, finishing the inning with a strikeout and preventing any further scoring.

From that point on, Eaglin was nearly untouchable. In the fourth inning, she worked around back-to-back walks by inducing a pop-up and recording a strikeout to strand both runners. That proved to be Fairfield's last real threat of the game.

Meanwhile, Army's offense began to respond in the bottom of the fourth. Ashton White led off with a single, and Caitlyn Newburn followed with a clutch double to center field, putting runners on second and third with no outs.

With the pressure mounting, Breanna Coonfare delivered a sacrifice fly, scoring White to tie the game at 1–1.

With the game even, Eaglin elevated her performance even further. She retired the side in order in the fifth inning, then followed with another dominant frame in the sixth, striking out a batter and allowing no hits. By this point, she had fully taken control, mixing strikeouts with weak contact and keeping Fairfield from generating any offense.

Army had another opportunity in the sixth inning to take the lead. White and Newburn again came through with back-to-back singles, putting two runners on with one out. However, Fairfield escaped the inning, stranding both runners and keeping the game tied.

Still, Eaglin gave Army every chance to win. She delivered a clean seventh inning to send the game to extras and then returned in the eighth with complete confidence, retiring all three batters she faced.

Over the final five innings, she did not allow a run and completely shut down Fairfield's lineup, finishing with eight innings pitched, just one unearned run allowed, multiple strikeouts, and total command throughout.

That set the stage for the dramatic finish.

In the bottom of the eighth, Army needed just one swing. After a quick first out, Taylor Brown stepped to the plate and delivered in the biggest moment of the game, driving a pitch deep to right field for a walk-off home run. The ball cleared the fence as Brown rounded the bases, sealing the 2–1 victory and capping off a complete team performance.

On Deck

Next up, the Black Knights hit the road for the second consecutive weekend on Saturday, traveling to Herb & Joan Young Field in Lawrenceville, N.J., to take on the Rider University Broncos.

The two teams faced off in a midweek doubleheader at the Army Softball Complex last season, with Army taking both games, 5-3 and 6-3, over the Broncos on March 26, 2025.

The last time the two teams played in Lawrenceville was in 2024, when they split a doubleheader on March 16. Army first earned a 5-2 win before suffering a 0-3 loss against Rider directly after.

The doubleheader begins Saturday, March 21, at 12 p.m. ET, with the second game slated to start at 2 p.m. ET. Both games will also stream live on BroncVision.

Follow Along

For complete coverage of Army West Point softball, follow the Black Knights on X and Instagram at @ArmyWP_Softball and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.