LYNDHURST, N.J. – Despite combining for 26 base hits on the day, the Felician University softball team settled for a split of its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference softball doubleheader with visiting Bloomfield College on Thursday at the Lyndhurst Recreation Complex. Felician took Game 1, 8-2, before suffering a 12-7 Game 2 loss.
The twinbill was originally scheduled to be hosted by Bloomfield, therefore the Bears batted last in both games.
Felician freshman catcher Keelee Davis (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake) went 5 for 8 with a double and a triple for the day. Teammates Mia Montoya (Las Vegas, Nev./John F. Kennedy [Calif.]) and Steph Donah (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) collected four hits each.
In the teams' morning contest, the Golden Falcons (8-13, 5-1 CACC) struck for three runs in the top of the first inning. Senior Jeannette Roldan (Hesperia, Calif./Oak Hills) led off the game with a single, and C.J. Apacible (Long Beach, Calif./Lakewood) and Montoya followed with consecutive RBI doubles. Montoya scored later in the inning on a fielding error.
Bloomfield (6-10, 6-4) immediately cut into its deficit with a pair in the home half of the first. Run-scoring singles by Mariah Wysocki (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) and Kiersten Coho (East Freedom, Pa./Mercyhurst University North East) capped the rally.
But Felician senior right-hander Ashley Owens (Lockport, N.Y./Starpoint) (8-6) allowed no runs on one hit for the final six innings. The four-hitter was her 40th career victory, making her the first Felician pitcher to reach that milestone.
Felician broke the game open with three fifth-inning runs. Nicole Spiegelberg (Blauvelt, N.Y./Tappan Zee) scored on a passed ball, and Monica Laverty (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) and Apacible drove in runs with a single and groundout, respectively. The Golden Falcons tacked on single runs in the sixth and seventh for the final margin.
Montoya went 3 for 5 with two doubles and Davis had a double among three hits as the Golden Falcons out-hit Bloomfield, 14-4. Felician totaled five doubles in the contest.
The Bears erased a 3-1 Game 2 deficit by plating seven unearned runs on only three hits in the bottom of the fourth inning. Consecutive one-out errors and a walk loaded the bases. After a hit batsman, Bloomfield sophomore Delanie Cruz (Chicago, Ill./Lyons Township) cracked a two-run double to put her team ahead for good. The Bears saw two runners come across on wild pitches, and freshman Jerae Keli'koa (Wahiawa, Hawaii/Mililani) finished the uprising with a two-run triple.
Felician pulled to within 8-5 in the fifth on Spiegelberg's second two-run home run of the game. Bloomfield, however, put the game away by when Cruz drove a three-run shot over the center field fence in the bottom half.
Bear freshman righty Maddie Fedderson (Islip, N.Y./Islip) (3-2) scattered eight hits over four innings to earn the victory. Leadoff hitter Sarisha Daugherty (Chula Vista, Calif./Hilltop) was 4 for 5 with a double and scored three runs, and Cruz went 3 for 4 with 5 RBI.
For Felician, Donah was 3 for 3 plus a walk with three runs scored. Spiegelberg was 2 for 3 plus an intentional walk, scored three runs and drove in four.
The Golden Falcons are back in action on Friday for a make-up doubleheader at Nyack College at 2 p.m. in Orangeburg, N.Y.
