WILMINGTON, Del. – Felician University lost the first game of its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference softball doubleheader to host Goldey-Beacom College, 6-5, in nine innings on Saturday afternoon at the Jackson Athletic Complex. Goldey-Beacom then completed a sweep with a 6-3 win in Game 2.

Junior left fielder Jeannette Roldan (Hesperia, Calif.) went 5 for 8 on the day for Felician (8-11, 0-4 CACC). Senior Jackie Dueñas (Riverside, Calif.) and sophomore Zeaenna Brackett (Woodbury, N.J.) both had an extra-base hit in each game.

Felician lost its grip on an early 4-0 Game 1 lead, with the Lightning (4-8, 3-1) moving ahead by scoring three times in the second inning and twice in the third. Pitchers Ashley Owens (Lockport, N.J.) of Felician and GBC's Alyssa Giampolo settled down in the middle-to-late innings, with the score holding at 5-4 into the seventh.

The Golden Falcons forced extra frames when Steph Donah's (Clark, N.J.) sacrifice fly scored pinch-runner Monica Laverty (Lyndhurst, N.J.) in the top of the seventh. By CACC rule, the international tiebreaker went into effect when the game reached the ninth. Felician was denied a chance to take the lead in that inning when a run-scoring single was called back by an appeal of an unreported substitution.

In the bottom of the ninth, GBC's Autumn Hollis pinch-ran for the placed runner. Owens recorded the first two outs, but Giampolo reached her for a single through the left side to win the game. Owens had retired 10 consecutive batters before the fateful hit.

Mia Montoya (Cypress, Calif.) was 3 for 4 and Roldan went 3 for 5 for Felician. The Golden Falcons out-hit the Lightning, 14-10, but left 11 runners on base. Dueñas (2 for 5, double) and Donah drove in two runs each. Owens (5-6) struck out seven batters and walked one in 8 2/3 innings. Shelby Murphy was 2 for 4 with a triple for GBC.

The Lightning carried the momentum into Game 2, jumping out to a 6-0 lead after four innings. After plating a run in the first, Goldey-Beacom scored twice on just one hit in the third. The hosts took full control by bringing home three runs in the fourth, a rally capped by Paulynn Mao's RBI triple.

Felician clawed its way back into the game with three runs in the top of the fifth, featuring an RBI double buy Dueñas and run-scoring singles from Nicole Spiegelberg (Blauvelt, N.Y.) and Roldan. But Giampolo came on to pitch 2 1/3 innings of perfect relief to earn her first save of the season.

Brackett was 2 for 3 with a double and Roldan also picked up two hits for the Golden Falcons. Erin Powers (Aberdeen, N.J.) struck out five hitters in 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief work. Murphy went 2 for 4 with four stolen bases and scored twice to pace the Lightning.

Felician plays its home opener on Monday, a doubleheader versus St. Thomas Aquinas College. For the first tie, the Golden Falcons are playing home games at the Lyndhurst Recreation Complex.