CLERMONT, Fla. – The Felician College softball team began its Sunday by amassing 20 base hits in a 14-11 non-conference morning victory over Wheeling Jesuit University at Hancock Park. Felician then combined for just nine more safeties in non-league losses to Lake Erie College, 10-1, at Hancock and the College of Saint Rose, 4-3, at the National Training Center (NTC).

Felician senior shortstop Aimee Lopez (Riverbank, Calif.) was 4 for 10 with a home run on the day, and her younger sister, junior catcher Amanda Lopez (Riverbank, Calif.) was the only Golden Falcon to have a hit in all three games, and was also 4 for 10. The sisters combined to drive in six runs in the three games.

Felician (2-3) began its day by finding itself in a slugfest with Wheeling Jesuit. The teams combined for 25 runs, 30 hits, and seven errors, and together left 21 runners on base. The Golden Falcons put up four runs in the top of the second inning, but were trailing, 6-5, after four frames.

Felician took the lead for good with four runs in the fifth. After her team loaded the bases with one out, senior Zharde Sellona (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) tied the game with a single to left field. A Ciera Clark (Granite Bay, Calif.) grounder plated the go-ahead run, and Mercedes Montanez (Vista, Calif.) followed with an RBI single. The second Cardinal error of the inning left Felician ahead, 9-6, and the Golden Falcons put the game away with five more scores in the sixth.

Freshman right-hander Ashley Owens (Lockport, N.Y.) picked up the win despite allowing eight runs (six earned) on nine hits in six innings. Meanwhile, every Golden Falcon starter had at least two hits. Aimee Lopez went 3 for 5, including a three-run homer in the second, Felician's first of the season. Senior third-baseman Taylor Parker (Surrey, British Columbia) also drove in three runs.

Felician remained at Hancock Park to take on Lake Erie, and fell behind, 5-0, after four innings. The Storm continued to score, posting two runs in the top of the fifth inning and three more in the sixth. When Storm reliever Kaylie Lewis (Sebring, Ohio) shut down the Golden Falcons in the bottom of the sixth, the game was complete.

Felician's only run came in the fifth, on a one-out RBI single by Sellona. The Storm owned a 14-6 advantage in hits. Sellona finished 2 for 3 with a stolen base and freshman Alicia DeFlaviis (Cherry Hill, N.J.) also had two hits for the Golden Falcons. Felician senior lefty Chelsea DeGuzman (Clermont, Fla.) (0-2) gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits in 3 1/3 innings.

After a short break, the Golden Falcons took the three-mile trek from Hancock to the NTC for a regional evening make-up game with Saint Rose. Felician struck first with three runs in the bottom of the first, scoring on a bases-loaded hit batsman from Parker and Amanda Lopez's two-run single. But Golden Knight relievers Nicole Wickham (Greenville, N.Y.) and Renee Vaiano (Massapequa, N.Y.) held Felician scoreless on just one hit the rest of the way.

Wickham earned the victory by tossing 3 2/3 innings, and Vaiano hurled three hitless stanzas for a save. After inching closer with a run in the second inning, Saint Rose took the lead with a three-spot in the fifth. Center fielder Kari Bird (New Rochelle, N.Y.) had the big hit for the Golden Knights with a two-out, two-run go-ahead triple.

Owens (2-1) pitched her first complete game for Felician, but it came in a losing effort. She surrendered nine hits, struck out three, and walked two. Carly Wood (Hamilton, N.J) was 3 for 4 for the Golden Knights.