LYNDHURST, N.J. – Junior first-baseman Ciera Clark (Granite Bay, Calif./Del Oro) struck a two-out, pinch-hit, walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Felician College to a 7-6 Game 2 victory and a split of its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference softball doubleheader with visiting Holy Family University on Sunday afternoon at Matera Field. Holy Family (26-14, 17-9 CACC) is the No. 8 team in the most recent NCAA Division II East Region Committee ranking.

However, the Tigers defeated Felician, 12-3 in six innings, in the day's opening game. The setback eliminated the Golden Falcons (19-21, 11-14 CACC) from CACC playoff contention, as Felician can now finish no better than ninth in the 14-team league.

Between games, Felician President Dr. Anne M. Prisco helped honor the Golden Falcons' five seniors – outfielder Alyssa Banca (East Rutherford, N.J./Becton Regional); pitcher/outfielder Tori Bradburn (Ridge, Md./Great Mills); pitcher Macy Chase (Sacramento, Calif./Bradshaw Christian); catcher Kelsi Ludwigsen (Havre de Grace, Md./Harford Tech) and second-baseman Halei Van Dyke (West Milford, N.J./West Milford). Ludwigsen went 4 for 6 plus a walk on the day, and Chase was the Game 2 winning pitcher.

For the Tigers, sophomore third-baseman Kristine Casey (Newark, Del./Caravel) was on base six times in the doubleheader, going 4 for 5 with a triple and five runs batted in. HFU shortstop Samantha Borelli (West Berlin, N.J./Overbrook) was 4 for 7 with three extra base hits. She scored five times.

Felician led, 6-2, after five innings, of Game 2, but the Tigers staged a two-out rally to score four times in the top of the sixth. After HFU loaded the bases with one out on three walks, Chase induced a fielder's choice grounder on which her defense obtained the force at the plate. However, Sarah Chilutti (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) looped a three-run double, and Casey followed with a single to right-center to plate Chilutti and tie the game.

Chilutti (0-3), the third Holy Family pitcher of the game, tossed a perfect bottom of the sixth, but Chase (8-9) countered with a scoreless seventh. In the home half of the seventh, Ludwigsen and Van Dyke stroked consecutive one-out singles. Game 1 winning pitcher Bailey Walters (Ridgecrest, Calif./Burroughs) relieved Chilutti and recorded a strikeout. Clark then lined a 1-and-0 pitch into left-center field, bringing pinch-runner Aimee Lopez (Riverbank, Calif./Riverbank) around from second base to end the game.

Ludwigsen was 3 for 3 and Banca went 2 for 4 with two RBI. Van Dyke and Jackie Dueñas (Riverside, Calif./Arlington) also picked up two hits. With Bradburn going 1 for 3 plus a sacrifice fly as the designated player, seniors had eight of the Golden Falcons' 13 hits in the game. Borelli doubled, homered and scored three runs for the Tigers.

Bradburn (8-8) and Walters (11-3) both pitched complete games in the opener, with the Tiger freshman righty coming out on top. Holy Family scored in every inning but the first, enacting the NCAA 8-run rule on a two-run home run by Erin Corrado (Fair Hill, Md./St. Mark's [Del.]) in the top of the sixth. Walters gave up three runs (none earned) on four hits in six innings, striking out five Golden Falcons while walking three.

Zharde Sellona (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Aliso Niguel) singled for Felician and scored on a throwing error in the first inning. Banca lifted a fourth inning sacrifice fly, and a second run scored on the play on another Tiger miscue. Casey was 2 for 3 with a triple and three RBI for HFU.

Each team committed three errors. Just six of the 12 runs Bradburn allowed were earned.

Felician concludes its 2014 campaign with a one-game make-up at nationally-ranked Caldwell College on Monday.