PEMBROKE, N.C. - Felician softball concluded their opening weekend tournament at the UNC-Pembroke Invitational Sunday afternoon. In back-to-back contests, the Golden Falcons matched up with Kutztown and West Virginia State University (WVSU) but ultimately fell in each.
GAME ONE VS. KUTZTOWN (1-15)
- The Golden Falcons met the Golden Bears for the second time in the weekend seeking redemption for the 0-9 los on Friday. Unfortunately, Kutztown was able to have the dominant swings in the event and they toppled 14 runs in the top-2nd.
- Mia Martinez (Bronx, N.Y.) posted her first Home Run of the season in the bottom of the second for her first home run of 2024. The senior went 1-2 at the plate with a run and a RBI.
GAME TWO VS. WVSU (5-9)
- Felician's first win of 2024 came from the victory over WVSU on Friday, 7-4, in the bottom of the sixth inning where he squad recorded the winning seven runs.
- On Sunday, both teams battled it out once more and the Yellow Jackets split the series with the green-and-gold when they handed Felician the 5-9 defeat.
- WVSU was on the board swiftly after the first, but with the help of Makalya De La Rosa's (Winchester, C.A.) RBI double and being able to put more runners on the basepaths, Felician equalized the score at 2.
- The Yellow Jackets posted a run in the following inning and then three more in the fourth to hold the 2-6 advantage over the Golden Falcons. In the sixth inning, Alexis Velotta (Menifee, C.A.) and Saddie Kittoe (Winchester, V.A.) took advantage of opposer errors. De La Rosa bombed her second double of the contest to send home Velotta, 3-6.
- Felician's final two of the contest also happened in the sixth when Hannah Ramirez (Carson, C.A.) posted an RBI single up the middle to have Kittoe and De La Rosa touch home to trail by one 5-6.
- Despite the hype of the top of the sixth for the green-and-gold, the team couldn't hold off the hot swings by the Yellow Jackets and they posted three runs of their own to close out the contest with a 5-9 score.
WVSU Boxscore Insights:
- De La Rosa went 3-3 with two RBIs, two doubles, and two runs while Kathryn Steinmetz (Chula Vista, C.A.) went 2-4.
- Ramirez went 1-2 with 2 RBIs and Velotta recorded two runs.
- Each Felician pitcher of Riley Williams (Corona, C.A.), Kylie Sharapan (Las Vegas, N.V.) and Jazel Lopez (Carson, C.A.) posted a strike out each.
The Golden Falcons (1-5) will return to action on March 6, when they hit the road to Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania for a doubleheader starting at 2:00pm.