PHILADELPHIA – Freshman pitcher Tyler Pepper (Shoreham, N.Y.) earned his first collegiate victory and graduate first baseman Mike Martone (Brick, N.J.) hit his initial career home run as Felician University defeated the host University of the Sciences, 15-1, in Game 1 of the teams' Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference baseball doubleheader on Thursday at Richie Ashburn Field. USciences came back to win Game 2, 4-1.

Felician (23-23, 21-7 CACC) remains percentage points behind Wilmington (Del.) University for first place in the CACC South Division, but both teams have already clinched first-round home games in the conference championship tournament. The Golden Falcons and Wildcats meet in a conference twinbill on Friday in Lyndhurst, N.J.

Senior third baseman Bruce Strickland (Hazlet, N.J.) and junior shortstop L.T. Struble (Hammonton, N.J.) each collected four hits on the day for the Golden Falcons. Devil freshman left fielder Brian Magee (New Fairfield, Conn.) picked up two hits in each game.

Pepper (1-1) and three relievers frustrated the USciences line-up for most of Game 1, as the Devils (8-29, 5-21) left 12 runners on base. Pepper departed after six innings with a 10-0 lead, having given up eight hits (all singles) and one walk while striking out two batters.

Pepper gave the Golden Falcon offense ample time to go to work, but instead, it rallied for three runs in the first inning. Felician began the game with three singles to load the bases before Rahul Prince (Pomona, N.Y.) lined a two-run double and Jason Aponte (Loxahatchee, Fla.) followed with a sacrifice fly. The visitors scored twice more in the second inning, and an RBI single in the third by Anthony Santoro (Freehold, N.J.) made the score 6-0.

Felician took full control with a four-run fifth. After again loading the bases with no one out, the Golden Falcons received an RBI single from Ron Sessa (Chester, N.J.). One out later, Carlos Bermudez (Miami, Fla.) dropped a single into right-center field, and Strickland brought home Sessa with a sacrifice fly.

Martone pinch-hit for Santoro with one on and none out in the ninth and sent a drive inside the right-field foul pole to conclude the game's scoring. The round-tripper came in his 109^th career game.

Matt Diesel (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) was 3 for 4 with three RBI and Strickland also finished with three hits for Felician, which had four sacrifice flies in the contest. Junior shortstop Nick Amicon (Glenmoore, Pa.) was 4 for 4 and Magee had an eighth-inning RBI double for the Devils.

Game 2 was a scheduled seven-inning affair, and USciences freshman left-hander Austin Blumetti (Somers Point, N.J.) went the distance on the mound. Blumetti (1-1) threw 112 pitches, 73 for strikes, in limiting the Golden Falcons to one run on five hits.

The game was scoreless through five frames, however. Felician junior righty Will Kazura (Saddle Brook, N.J.) worked 4 2/3 shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks, before giving way to senior John-Paul Codelia (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who obtained the final out of the fifth.

With one out in the home half of the sixth, Codelia (0-2) issued consecutive walks. Felician called on closer Dan Naif (Jackson, N.J.), but an RBI single by Nate Steele (Tabernacle, N.J.) broke the scoreless tie. Magee followed another walk with another run-scoring hit, and Naif handed the Devils two more runs on a hit batsman and a throwing error before escaping.

Strickland sent an RBI double to right-center with two outs in the seventh, but Felician was unable to get Diesel, the CACC's leading hitter, to the plate as the tying run. Struble went 2 for 4 and Aponte and Max Vigliotti (Lyndhurst, N.J.) had the other safeties for the Golden Falcons.