Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 PHILADELPHIA – The Felician College softball team experienced a bittersweet afternoon on Saturday. Several Golden Falcons reached school records and individual milestones, but Felician lost both ends of its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader to host University of the Sciences, 3-2 and 3-2, at McNeil Field. The Devils scored the winning run of each contest in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The pair of setbacks dropped Felician (13-27, 9-15 CACC) into 10th place in the 14-team CACC. The Golden Falcons however, are just two games behind seventh-place Bloomfield College in what is essentially a four-team race for the league's final two playoff spots. Felician completes its regular season with a home CACC doubleheader on April 27 against Georgian Court University; other conference results in the week ahead will provide a clearer picture of its playoff scenarios entering that weekend.
Three Felician noteworthy accomplishments occurred in the first inning of Game 1. Sophomore shortstop Aimee Lopez (Riverbank, Calif.) led off with a double and advanced to third base when the ball was misplayed in the outfield. Three batters later, she scored on a single by Ciera Clark (Granite Bay, Calif.), allowing Lopez to set the school record for runs scored in a season with her 34th.
Junior catcher Kelsi Ludwigsen (Havre de Grace, Md.) followed with a double to center field, scoring Clark from first base for a 2-0 Felician lead. It was the 100th base hit of Ludwigsen's career, making her 10th player in the 17-year history of the Golden Falcon program to reach that mark. Teammate Taylor Parker (Surrey, British Columbia) would join her in the Felician 100-hit club during Game 2.
Senior right-hander Kristen Tenwolde (Ramona, Calif.) started the opener in the pitching circle for the Golden Falcons. She was making her 75th career appearance, establishing a Felician record formerly held by Kristina Jimenez. In completing the contest, Tenwolde established another all-time school mark. She reached 384 career innings, surpassing the 382 1/3 of Dara DeSocio. In slightly fewer than three seasons, Tenwolde has set virtually every Felician pitching participation record.
Tenwolde carried a four-hit shutout into the sixth inning, when USciences (22-14, 16-6) rallied to tie the game. Devil senior Erin Summers (Pitman, N.J.) led off with an infield hit, stole second base, and advanced to third on a groundout. Two batters later, Gabrielle Adams (Aston, Pa.) came through with an RBI single. Following a walk, the Devils drew even on a pinch-hit RBI single from Nicole Rivera (Pittsford, N.Y.)
USciences senior pitcher Courtney Spina (Thornton, Pa.) worked a perfect seventh inning, giving the hosts a chance to win in the bottom half. With one out, sophomore second-baseman Devon DeBellis (Marlton, N.J.) singled and stole second, and Summers followed with a game-winning RBI single down the left-field foul line.
Spina (9-8) went the distance on a five-hitter, striking out six batters and walking one. She escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth to preserve the two-run deficit and allow her team to come back. Tenwolde (7-14) scattered nine hits in 6 1/3 frames. Clark went 2 for 3 for Felician, while the Devils saw Summers, Adams, and Janelle Rodriguez (Vineland, N.J.) nab two hits apiece
It was the Golden Falcons who were put in comeback mode in Game 2 when USciences picked up two unearned runs in the first inning. With the inning extended on a fielding error, Adams delivered a two-run single, plating DeBellis and Haley Kavelak (Middletown, Del.)
Felician sophomore right-hander Macy Chase (Sacramento, Calif.) settled down afterward, keeping the Devils off the scoreboard for the next five innings. Her efforts finally paid off in the top of the sixth, when the Golden Falcons picked up a pair of runs to tie the game.
With one out and one on, Parker became the first Felician player to reach 100 career hits as a sophomore, lining a single to left field. Clark delivered a double to drive in a run, and Ludwigsen's single scored Parker to tie the game and leave runners at the corners. Devils' freshman righty Cassie Lapotsky (Ashland, Pa.) escaped further damage on a fielder's choice grounder and strikeout, and the teams once again entered the seventh tied at 2-2.
Lapotsky (12-5) set Felician down in order in the top of the seventh. In the home half, Kerianne Jones (West Chester, Pa.) reached Chase (5-9) for a one-out triple. Chase took a step toward forcing extra innings by inducing a foul pop-up, but could not get past Summers, who came up with her second walk-off single of the afternoon, this time to left-center.
Lapotsky struck out six and walked two in a six hitter. Chase yielded one earned run in 6 2/3 innings with five strikeouts. Ludwigsen went 2 for 3 for Felician, while Adams and Jones each had two safeties in the Devils' seven-hit attack.
Felician plays its final road games of the season when it travels to the University of Bridgeport for a twinbill on Wednesday.
