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Box Score 2 LYNDHURST, N.J. – Senior left fielder Jeannette Roldan (Hesperia, Calif./Oak Hills) became the Felician University softball program's all-time leader in base hits during the Golden Falcons' 9-1, five-inning victory over the visiting University of the Sciences in Game 1 of the teams' Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader on Saturday evening at the Lyndhurst Recreation Complex. USciences rebounded to claim Game 2, 5-3.
Saturday's games marked the end of the regular season for Felician. The Golden Falcons (19-22, 16-10 CACC) await the completion of conference games on Sunday and Monday to have their league playoff seed and first-round league championship tournament opponent determined.
Between games, Roldan and Golden Falcons senior pitcher Ashley Owens (Lockport, N.Y./Starpoint) were honored in a Senior Day ceremony.
Roldan wasted little time setting the hits record, starting the bottom of the first inning by finding the ground with a 2-and-2 pitch to break her tie with Taylor Parker. It was the 181st hit of Roldan's career. Felician trailed, 1-0, after one frame, but evened the score when sophomore Nicole Spiegelberg (Blauvelt, N.Y./Tappan Zee) led off the second with a home run. Her 11th round-tripper of 2018 broke Ciera Clark's single-season Golden Falcon record.
The hosts took the lead later in the second. Mia Montoya (Las Vegas, Nev./John F. Kennedy [Calif.]) followed Spiegelberg with a double. She was sacrificed to third base, and came home on a single by junior Victoria Quercia (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe Township). Felician then broke the game open with five third-inning runs.
The Golden Falcons took advantage of three USciences errors in the third. Montoya produced a one-out RBI double, and run-scoring singles by freshman Keelee Davis (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake) and Quercia pushed the lead to 5-1. Felician plated a pair of runs on fielder's choice grounders to complete the rally.
After the Golden Falcons tacked on a run in the fourth, Roldan singled to start the fifth and moved up on an error. She stole third base, and continued home on a wild throw to end the game. It was the 100th run scored of her career, allowing her to join Clark (113, 2012-15) as the only Golden Falcons to ever reach that milestone.
Owens gave up one run on five hits in five innings. She struck out five batters and walked one. She improved her season record to 15-9, matching the single-season school record for pitching victories held by Jackie Scarpari (2002). Quercia was 3 for 3 with three RBI. Camille Brown (Kennett Square, Pa./Kennett) was 2 for 3 and Madison LaPlante (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) had a first-inning RBI double for the Devils (11-31, 8-16).
A two-out, two-run home run by freshman Keiya Moncilovich (Sewell, N.J./GCIT) put the Devils ahead in the top of the second inning of the nightcap. Felician cut the lead on half on a solo shot by Spiegelberg in the home half of the second. But USciences received another two-run round-tripper in the third, this one by LaPlante, to lead, 4-1.
USciences hurler Kaitlyn Gaynor (Berlin, N.J./Eastern Regional) (6-10) held the Felician offense at bay until the sixth stanza, when a two-run homer by freshman C.J. Apacible (Long Beach, Calif./Lakewood) brought the hosts back to within 4-3. Afterward, the Golden Falcons put runners on first and second with one out, but Gaynor induced a flyout and strikeout to preserve the lead.
The Devils came up with an insurance run in the seventh, as Brooke Chisholm (Turnersville, N.j./GCIT), who had walked, scored on Lauren Davis' (Suffolk, Va./Nansemond River) groundout. Gaynor then worked around a two-out error to set down the Golden Falcons in the bottom of the seventh to salvage the split for USciences.
Gaynor went the distance on a five-hitter, striking out six batters and walking none.
