NEW CASTLE, Del. – The Felician University softball team came up on the short end of two tightly-contested contests on Saturday afternoon, losing both ends of a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader to host Wilmington (Del.) University, 3-1 and 1-0, at Asbury Field.

Wilmington (26-16, 20-2 CACC) is the CACC's first-place team.

Felician sophomore right-hander Ashley Owens (Lockport, N.Y.) (8-11) pitched complete games in both contests. In 12 total innings, she gave up two earned runs on 12 hits, struck out five batters, and walked two.

In Game 1, the Golden Falcons (15-25, 8-14) had the bases loaded with one out in the first inning, and two runners on with one out in the fourth, but failed to score on either occasion. That development left the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the fourth, where the Wildcats took advantage of two Golden Falcon errors to plate two unearned runs. Danielle Bradley (Delmar, Del.), who led off with a bunt single, scored on one of the miscues, and Lexi Baughman (Bear, Del.) had an RBI infield hit.

Felician immediately cut the lead in half in the top of the fifth. Zeaenna Brackett (Woodbury, N.J.) led off with a single, stole second base, and scored on an RBI double by Jeannette Roldan (Hesperia, Calif.). But the Golden Falcons could not bring home Roldan to knot the score.

After watching freshman Caitlyn Whiteside (Bermuda Dunes, Calif.) (10-4) pitch into and out of trouble for five frames, Wilmington turned to junior righty Brooklyn Lachette (Aldan, Pa.) to start the sixth. Lachette allowed one hit over two scoreless innings to pick up her fourth save of the season, and Colby Wyatt (Harrington, Del.) gave the hosts an insurance run with a home run leading off the bottom of the sixth.

Roldan went 3 for 4 and Brackett was 2 for 4 for Felician. Wilmington's Baughman was 2 for 2 and Wyatt scored a pair of runs. Owens struck out four and walked none in a five-hitter.

The Golden Falcons could muster only three base hits off of Wildcats pitching in Game 2, including two two-out singles in the first inning off of starter Bradley. Lachette (7-6) took over in the fourth inning and yielded one hit and one walk in four innings of work.

The game's only run came in the bottom of the fourth. Wyatt reached Owens for a leadoff double and moved to third on a bunt single by Meghan Brown (Sewell, N.J.). Owens nearly escaped trouble by inducing a pair of popups, but Kaitlyn Slater (Harrington, Del.) got a single through the left side to score Wyatt.

Owens got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, but Lachette retired Felician in order in the sixth, and worked around a leadoff walk in the seventh to secure the victory.

Wyatt and Taylor Rizzotte (Hammonton, N.J.) had two hits each for Wilmington. The Golden Falcon safeties, all singles, were by Mia Montoya (Cypress, Calif.), Racquel Manzo (Whittier, Calif.) and Brynne Bauman (Hazlet, N.J).