LYNDHURST, N.J. – Sophomore center fielder Steph Donah (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) hit a go-ahead grand slam home run in the third inning to lead Felician University to a 6-2 victory over visiting St. Thomas Aquinas College in Game 1 of the teams' nonconference softball doubleheader on Monday afternoon at the Lyndhurst Recreation Complex. Donah then went 3 for 4 with two doubles despite Felician's 9-8 loss in Game 2.

The Golden Falcons (9-12) were playing their 2017 home openers.

Nearly all of the Game 1 scoring came in the third inning. St. Thomas Aquinas (8-8) used a Felician error and three hits, including RBI singles by Amanda Leone (Milford, Conn./Law) and Ashley Landolina (Tolland, Conn./Tolland), to open up an 2-0 lead in the visitor half.

Felician tallied five times in the bottom of the third, all after two were out with no one on. The Golden Falcons loaded the bases on two singles and a hit batsman. Senior Jackie Dueñas (Riverside, Calif./Arlington) singled through the right side to put Felician on the scoreboard, and Donah followed with a blast over the right field fence. It was Felician's first grand slam in more than three years.

Felician pitchers Ashley Owens (Lockport, N.Y./Starpoint) and Erin Powers (Aberdeen, N.J./Matawan Regional) prevented the Spartans from scoring again the rest of the way. Owens (6-6) yielded one earned run on six hits over four innings, striking out four, and Powers tossed the final three for her first career save.

Golden Falcon junior Jeannette Roldan (Hesperia, Calif./Oak Hills) hit a solo homer in the fifth to complete the scoring. Each team picked up eight hits, but all of STAC's were singles. Mia Montoya (Cypress, Calif./John F. Kennedy) was 2 for 2 plus a walk for Felician, and Roldan had two hits and scored twice.

Felician came all the way back from an early 5-0 deficit to take the lead in Game 2, but surrendered three runs in the top of the seventh and succumbed. Down 6-4, the Golden Falcons plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth, capped by Roldan's two-run double.

In the seventh, however, STAC loaded the bases against Powers (2-3) with three infield singles. A hit by Danielle DiModugno (West Nyack, N.Y./Nanuet) tied the score, and Landolina came home with the go-ahead run on a throwing error on the play. Another Felician error later in the inning allowed what proved to be an important insurance run.

Donah came up with an RBI single with one out in the bottom of the seventh. But Spartan pitcher Colleen Borum (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) (4-3) then induced a double-play grounder for a complete-game victory. Borum allowed six earned runs on 11 hits.

Landolina was 4 for 4 with a home run and DiModugno went 3 for 4 for the Spartans. Donah had two of Felician's five doubles in the game, while teammates Zeaenna Brackett (Woodbury, N.J./Woodbury) and Miranda Torres (Riverside, Calif./Eleanor Roosevelt) stroked two hits each.

Felician returns to Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference play when it hosts Concordia (N.Y.) College on Wednesday. The Golden Falcons now play all home games at the Lyndhurst Recreation Complex.