Felician Athletics - 4/30/07 SOFTBALL - Felician Sweeps Rams, Earns Playoff Berth

PHILADELPHIA – In its final games of the regular season, the Felician College softball team clinched a berth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament by sweeping a CACC doubleheader from host Philadelphia University, 6-1 and 4-0, on Monday afternoon. Felician (19-14, 11-11), which has won six games in a row and seven of its last eight, plays its first-round playoff game against Wilmington (Del.) College on Thursday at noon in Wall, N.J.

Sophomore pitcher Nicole Broecker (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) did not allow an earned run in a complete game victory in Game 1, and junior Dara DeSocio (Cliffside Park, NJ/Paramus Catholic) tossed a five-hit shutout in Game 2. Freshman Nicole Degenhardt (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) drove in two runs in each game, including the go-ahead run in the playoff-clinching nightcap. The Golden Falcons needed both wins to claim the No. 6 seed in the CACC Tournament over Dominican (N.Y.) College via tiebreaker.

Aided by a dropped fly ball which allowed two runs to score, Felician scored three times in the second inning of the opener. Philadelphia (10-30, 6-16) got a run back in the third on a passed ball, but Degenhardt’s two-run single in the fifth gave Broecker (7-4) more breathing room. Broecker allowed six hits, struck out six batters and walked one. Heather Van Dyke (West Milford, NJ/West Milford) (2 for 3) and Brittany Taylor (Saddle Brook, NJ/Paramus Catholic) scored twice each for Felician. The Rams’ Jacque Curtis (Punxsutawney, PA/Punxsutawney) was 2 for 4.

The nightcap remained scoreless until the top of the sixth inning, when Degenhardt’s two-out single drove in Sherry Flynn (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) and Van Dyke, both of whom had reached on errors. DeSocio (8-6), who allowed just one runner to reach third base, struck out three and walked one. Degenhardt was 2 for 3 with a double. Curtis (3-10) allowed two earned runs on seven hits.