Felician Athletics - 3/5/07 SOFTBALL - DeSocio Shutout, Rainer Milestone Highlight 2-1 Opening Day

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Dara DeSocio (Cliffside Park, NJ) pitched a three-hit shutout and Meredith Rainer (Wantage, NJ) picked up her 100th career base hit, highlighting an opening day which saw the Felician softball team go 2-1. The Golden Falcons defeated Rivier College, 7-0, lost to Susquehanna University, 11-4, and won a night game over West Virginia Wesleyan College, 7-5.

DeSocio started the season by carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning. She struck out nine and walked one, and escaped a bases-loaded one-out jam in the sixth to preserve the shutout. Felician received two-run doubles from Rainer in the third inning and Nicole Broecker (Staten Island, NY) in a pinch-hitting role highlighting a four-run sixth.

In the middle game, Felician committed eight errors which led to seven unearned runs for the Crusaders. The Golden Falcons had erased an early 3-0 deficit on a RBI single by Rainer for hit No. 100 and a two-run homerun by Jenna Krowl (Kearny, NJ) in the top of the fourth inning, but Susquehanna scored four times in the bottom of the frame to take control.

The Golden Falcons took a 7-0 lead against West Virginia Wesleyan before holding on for the victory. Winning pitcher Broecker allowed three runs on four hits with seven strikeouts over five innings, and hit a two-run homerun which turned into the margin of victory. Krowl was 3 for 4 with two doubles and two RBI.