NEWARK, N.J.  – The Felician University baseball team used the tried-and-true formula of quality pitching, solid defense and timely hitting to sweep visiting Dominican (N.Y.) College in the teams' best-of-three Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship tournament North Division play-in series on Sunday afternoon at Weequahic Park. Felician captured Game 1 by a score of 7-2 before winning Game 2, 6-1.

Felician, the North's No. 2 seed, moves on to the tournament's four-team double-elimination main draw for the first time since 2018. There, the Golden Falcons will face South Division No. 1 seed Wilmington (Del.) University in first-round action on Thursday at 11 a.m. The event is being hosted by Post University at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury, Conn.

Sunday's two games developed in similar fashion. During both contests, Felician (25-20) jumped out to early leads before seeing its pitching and defense take over. Left-handers Wilfrido Valenzuela (Paterson, N.J./Paterson Eastside) (3-2) and Mekhi Sanchez (Vineland, N.J./Vineland) combined to allow seven hits and five walks during Game 1, while righties Michael Gutierrez (Garfield, N.J./Garfield) (5-3) and Logan Waltz (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) hooked up for a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts and three walks during Game 2.

Felician struck for four first-inning runs in the day's opening game. With two runners on and one out, Dauri Genao (West New York, N.J./Memorial) sent an RBI single up the middle, and two batters later, Chris Fernandez (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton Community) lofted a three-run double to the opposite field in left. A two-out, two-run double by Edwin Tavarez (Garfield, N.J./Garfield) in the fourth put the hosts ahead, 6-0.

Valenzuela, meanwhile, worked three hitless innings before using double plays to escape trouble in the fourth and fifth. The North No. 3 seed Chargers finally reached him for a pair of runs in the sixth. After a two-out single, Valenzuela issued consecutive walks before yielding a two-run single to Shane Hewlette (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park). The next better, Tyler Patterson (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) hit a line drive that was gloved by Genao at third base.

Valenzuela gave way to Sanchez to start the seventh, and Dominican saw a rally come up empty. A leadoff single was wasted when catcher Luis De La Cruz (Jersey City, N.J./Bergen Catholic) cut down the runner attempting to advance on a short would-be wild pitch. The Chargers then put two more runners aboard but Sanchez worked out of trouble, eventually retiring his final seven hitters for this third save.

Felician outhit the Chargers, 9-7, with De La Cruz, Tavarez, and Genao picking up two hits apiece for Felician. Richard Paulino (San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Repblic/CENAPEC) and Max Chidsey (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast) were both 2 for 4 for Dominican (15-35).

The Golden Falcons were ahead, 5-0, after two frames of the nightcap. Run-scoring triples by De La Cruz and Fernandez sandwiched a Levis Aguila (Miramar, Fla./Hialeah Gardens) RBI single in the first. De La Cruz drove in two more scores with a second-inning double.

That was plenty of support for Gutierrez, who defeated Dominican for the second consecutive Sunday. This time, he yielded two hits over six shutout innings, struck out six batters, and walked three. Waltz gave up a run on a leadoff double by Chidsey and two fly balls in the ninth, but struck out five in his three innings of work to earn his second save.

Leadoff man Alex Torres (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Liberty) was 3 for 4 and scored twice for Felician. The Golden Falcons topped Dominican in all five of the teams' meetings this season.

Should Felician defeat Wilmington on Thursday, its next game would be Friday at noon. A loss would push the Golden Falcons into the elimination bracket and force them to play again on Thursday at 5 p.m. The tournament concludes with Saturday's championship round at noon.