NEWARK, N.J. – Using the age-old combination of good pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting, the Felician College baseball team swept a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader from host Bloomfield College, 6-1 and 3-2, on Thursday afternoon at West Side Park. Senior outfielder George Hajjar (Utica, NY) had two hits in each game for Felician, and junior outfielder Joe Petosa (Spotswood, NJ) produced a hit and five walks on the day.

With the pair of victories, the Golden Falcons (21-20, 13-4) passed Bloomfield for first place in the CACC standings with three conference games remaining. Felician, which has secured a berth in the CACC Tournament, needs one victory in its final three games to clinch a bye out of the tournament's playdown round. Two wins would wrap up the event's top seed.

In Game 1, Felician was led by the right arm of senior D.J. Stinsman (Egg Harbor Township, NJ) (4-4), who allowed five hits and struck out three in 7 1/3 innings. Stinsman got better as the game went on, giving up an unearned run in the first inning, and using a pickoff by catcher Jay Collazo (Wall Township, NJ) to escape the second unscathed. But the Deacons (20-14, 13-5) managed only one hit for the final seven frames.

The turning point for the Golden Falcons came in the top of the fourth, when they built a two-out rally. Following a Hajjar double and a walk to Kevin Whitehead (Tonawanda, NY), sophomore designated hitter Chris Ayala (Marlboro, NJ) blasted his first career home run, a three-run shot to left-center, to put Felician ahead for good.

The visitors took full control with three more runs in the fifth. After his team loaded the bases with one out, Mike Farrell (Lincroft, NJ) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Hajjar followed with a two-run single. Stinsman and reliever Jack Fowler (Shrewsbury, NJ), who got the final five outs, made the lead stand up. Stinsman's five hits allowed were all singles, and he worked around four walks to strand eight Deacon baserunners.

Felician again spotted the Deacons an early lead in Game 2, as Bloomfield came up with three hits and a walk off of Golden Falcon starter Kenny Monteith (Denville, NJ) to plate two runs. But Monteith (3-0) battled through the fifth inning without further damage, and his offense allowed him to leave with a lead.

Hajjar began the comeback with a solo home run leading off the fifth inning. In the sixth, The Golden Falcons loaded the bases with one out on a Gary Lavoie (Hillsborough, NJ) double and two walks. Lavoie scored the tying run on a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly from Farrell put Felician ahead.

Stephen Paladino (Brooklyn, NY) took over on the mound for the Golden Falcons and provided excellent bridge work. He cruised through the sixth and the seventh, allowing one baserunner, then danced his way out of a first-and-third, none-out jam in the eighth with two strikeouts and a pop-up. Paladino totaled four strikeouts in three innings. He set the stage for freshman closer Matthew Facendo (Hazlet, NJ), who worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

Jimmy Simpson (Biscayne Park, FL) was 2 for 2 plus a walk and a sacrifice and Lavoie had a pair of doubles for Felician. Emilio Fernandez (Woodland Park, NJ) and Edgardo Fernandez (Newark, NJ) each had a double among two hits for the Deacons. Bloomfield starter Francesco Scudiero (Brooklyn, NY) (7-2) allowed three runs on seven hits in eight innings in a losing effort.

Felician hosts St. Thomas Aquinas College on Friday before playing a conference doubleheader at Chestnut Hill College on Saturday.