Felician Athletics - 4/23/07 SOFTBALL - Felician Splits Despite Degenhardt's Hot Bat

LODI, N.J. – Freshman Nicole Degenhardt (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) drove in the tying and winning runs as Felician College claimed a 7-6 Game 1 victory during its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference softball doubleheader with visiting Dominican (N.Y.) College on Monday afternoon at Kennedy Park. Dominican scored 12 seventh-inning runs and won, 17-6, in Game 2.

In the opener, Degenhardt hit a two-run homerun with none out in the fourth inning to tie the game at 6-6. The next inning, with a runner on second base and two outs, she punched a double down the right-field foul line, plating Cortney Gavin (Kearny, NJ/Kearny), who had walked, with what proved to be the winning run.

Felician had erased a 3-0 first-inning deficit on Jenna Krowl’s (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) grand slam homerun with none out in the second. The Chargers’ Christine Stathes (Riverhead, NY/Riverhead) led off the top of the fourth with a homer, and her team tacked on two unearned runs later in the inning, setting up Degenhardt’s heroics. Nicole Broecker (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) (5-4) struck out nine batters in a complete game victory for the Golden Falcons.

Trailing, 5-1, heading into the top of the sixth inning of the nightcap, Dominican received a run-scoring single from Stathes, followed two batters later by a game-tying three-run homer by Melanie Hestermann (Lacey Township, NJ/Lacey). After holding Felician scoreless, the Chargers put 12 of their first 13 batters on base in the seventh. Winning pitcher Danielle Garrison (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) singled home the go-ahead run, and would come around again to cap the rally with a grand slam.

Garrison (5-2) allowed no earned runs in 3 1/3 innings of relief and went 3 for 4 with three runs scored and six RBI. Nicole Philpot (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley) and Sarah Beck (Milton, NY/Marlboro) were each 3 for 5. Meredith Rainer (Wantage, NJ/DePaul Catholic) went 3 for 3 with two doubles and three RBI for Felician (13-14, 5-11) and Degenhardt was 4 for 5 with a double to finish 6 for 9 on the day. Dominican had 28 hits and Felician 22 in the twinbill.