Felician Athletics - 4/14/06 SOFTBALL - Felician Takes Game From First-Place GCU

LODI, N.J. – Freshman Rebecca Dodd (Oakland, NJ) capped a four-run seventh-inning with a two-out, walk-off single as Felician College rallied to defeat visiting Georgian Court University, 6-5, in Game 2 of the teams’ Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference softball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Park. Georgian Court, the CACC’s first-place team, earned a 3-2 victory in Game 1.

Felician (9-10, 3-7) trailed, 3-0, heading into the bottom half of the sixth inning when it received a run-scoring single from Meredith Rainer (Wantage, NY/Depaul Catholic) and a sacrifice fly from Dodd. The Golden Falcons then committed three errors in the top of the seventh, leading to two unearned runs for GCU.

Felician put its first two runners on base in its half of the seventh, and, one out later, freshman Nicole Degenhardt (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) hit a game-tying, three-run homerun to centerfield. The Golden Falcons followed with a single and a double, and, two batters later, Dodd singled up the middle, scoring Nicole Broecker (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) for the victory. It was her team’s sixth hit of the inning.

Dara DeSocio (Cliffside Park, NJ/Paramus Catholic) earned the win in relief, allowing one earned run on three hits in three innings. Dodd was 2 for 3 with two runs batted in. Heather Walker (Hanover, Ontario/Diefenbaker) went 2 for 4 with a homer for the Lions.

In Game 1, Walker scored the eventual winning run in the top of the seventh, beating Felician third-baseman Dodd’s throw to the plate on Stacey Ryan’s (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) fielder’s choice grounder. All of the game’s previous scoring had taken place in the first two innings. GCU pitcher Samantha Sasko (Yardville, NJ/Steinert), who suffered the Game 2 loss, picked up a complete game win in the opener, striking out three batters and walking one in a six-hitter. Vanessa Piepszak (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) was 3 for 4 and scored twice for the Lions (18-18, 12-2), while Degenhardt went 2 for 3 with a double for the Golden Falcons.