MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Felician University scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to earn a 6-3 victory over the University of New Haven in Game 1 of the teams' non-conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday during the Northeast Challenge event at the Ripken Experience complex. Felician settled for a split after New Haven captured Game 2, 7-4.

Felician (1-2) is ranked No. 6 in the preseason NCAA Division II East Region writers' poll. New Haven was playing its 2020 season openers. Five Felician pitchers held the Chargers to five hits for the day.

The Golden Falcons were the designated home team for Saturday's opening game. They carried a 3-2 lead into the eighth inning before UNH senior Billy Huber (Smithtown, N.Y.) reached Felician reliver Zack Johnston (Hazlet, N.J.) for a one-out double. Tyler Wells (Danville, Vt.) followed with a single to tie the game and took second base on the throw home. But Wells was cut down at home plate attempting to score on a groundout.

Junior Anthony Condito (Nutley, N.J.) was hit by a pitch and Shawn Vazquez (Millville, N.J.) singled with one out in the home half. Following a pitching change, the duo executed a double steal. Sean Downey (Elizabeth, N.J.) topped an infield single plating Condito with the go-ahead run, and one-out later, Felician freshman Hakim Salaam (Vineland, N.J.) legged out a two-run triple to left field.

Johnston (1-0) retired the Chargers in order in the ninth. The sophomore right-hander worked the final 4 2/3 innings for his first career victory. Johnston struck out three batters, including two in the ninth, and walked one.

Salaam (3 RBI) and Jasson Corniel (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) had two hits each for the Golden Falcons. Condito hit a solo home run to jumpstart Felician's three-run fourth. Huber was 2 for 4 and leadoff man Matt Chamberlain (North Branford, Conn.) walked twice and scored twice for New Haven.

Game 2 was a scheduled seven-inning affair with the Chargers as the home team. Felician senior Mike Martinez (Union City, N.J.) led off the game with a home run, and the 1-0 score held until the fourth, when UNH plated seven runs on only two hits. The Golden Falcons issued three walks, three hit batsmen and two wild pitches and committed a fielding error in the frame.

Felician made its way back into contention in the fifth on an RBI double by Jake Stoller (Merion Station, Pa.) and Vazquez's two-run double. But the Golden Falcons brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth without scoring before sophomore Dominic Rutligliano (Franklin Square, N.Y.) worked around a two-out Vazquez hit in the ninth for the save.

Stoller went 3 for 4 with two doubles and sophomore Mat Miller (Bayside, N.Y.) pitched 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief in defeat for Felician.

The Golden Falcons conclude their stay at the Northeast Challenge with a non-conference game at noon on Sunday against St. Thomas Aquinas College.