LANTANA, Fla. – The Felician University baseball team played what turned into the Golden Falcons' final intercollegiate athletics event of the 2019-20 academic year on Friday afternoon, losing to New York Institute of Technology, 12-1, in non-conference action at the Santaluces Athletics Complex during the Palm Beach Challenge.

During the contest, the Presidents' Council of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference voted unanimously to cancel intercollegiate athletics competition by its 14 member institutions, including Felician, for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year. The East Coast Conference, which claims New York Tech as member, had released a similar announcement shortly after the game's first pitch.

The leagues' decisions came on the heels of one by the NCAA on Thursday to cancel all of its remaining winter and all of its spring championships in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Felician finished 2020 with a won-lost record of 2-11. The Bears, ranked No. 24 in the most recent national Division II writers' poll and second regionally, are 9-5.

The Bears, playing as the home team, opened the scoring with an unearned run in the bottom of the second inning off Felician junior right-hander Michael Gutierrez (Garfield, N.J.) (0-4). Andrew Florides (Glen Cove, N.Y.) reached on an error, was sacrificed to second base, and scored on a hit by Nick Tedesco (Holbrook, N.Y.).

Joseph Pesce's (Lake Mary, Fla.) RBI single in the third extended to a 2-0 lead, which New York Tech doubled in the fifth on a two-out, two-run single from Ben McNeill (Commack, N.Y.). Gutierrez departed after five innings having thrown 119 pitches. He gave up six hits, struck out three Bears and walked five.

That edge was plenty of room for New York Tech hurler Chris Mott (Holbrook, N.Y.) (3-1). The graduate right-hander yielded two hits, both singles to Felician junior designated hitter Shawn Vazquez (Millville, N.J.), over his six innings of work. He recorded five strikeouts, two walks and a hit batsman.

The Bears broke the game open with four runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth. Golden Falcon senior Gino Tortoriello (Brick, N.J.) spoiled the shutout with a ninth-inning RBI single.

Tedesco was 4 for 5 with two runs scored, and McNeill had two hits and four RBI for the Bears.

Felician would have played a three-game series against Pace University on Sunday and Monday before starting conference play against Nyack College on Tuesday.