Felician Athletics - 4/23/08 SOFTBALL - STAC Holds Off Two Felician Comeback Bids

SPARKILL, N.Y. – Two Felician College comeback attempts fell short as the Golden Falcons dropped both ends of a doubleheader to host Saint Thomas Aquinas College, 4-3 and 8-7, in non-conference softball action Wednesday afternoon at Spartan Field.

In Game 1, Felician (12-20) trailed, 3-1, after five innings before Lauren DeGrushe (Guttenberg, NJ) walked and stole second base to start the top of the sixth. Fellow freshman Samantha Ortiz (Brooklyn, NY) singled home DeGrushe, and advanced to third a batter later on a throwing error. Starting pitcher Nicole Broecker (Staten Island, NY) drove in the tying run with a single, but St. Thomas Aquinas pitcher Jess Gogatz (Brewster, NY) went on to escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam to preserve the tie.

Broecker (4-8) worked around a leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth, but could not do the same in the seventh. STAC’s Danielle Hart (Saugerties, NY) doubled and, following two walks, scored the winning run on Gogatz’s single up the middle with none out. Gogatz, who went 2 for 4, allowed one earned run and struck out five batters in a four-hitter, and teammate Jessica Rickel (Seymour, CT) had a double and a homerun. Ortiz scored twice for the Golden Falcons.

Felician recovered from a 7-2 deficit after four innings of the nightcap. The Golden Falcons scored three times in the top of the fifth, highlighted by an Amber Doran (Little Ferry, NJ) two-run single, before DeGrushe singled home two runs with two outs in the top of the sixth to tie the game. The Spartans went back ahead, however, on Joy Ferriello’s (Nanuet, NY) solo homer with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and pitcher Shannon Donohue (Maybrook, NY) retired Felician in order in the seventh.

Nine different Golden Falcons had a hit, including a two-run homer by Rebecca Dodd (Oakland, NJ) in the third. Right-hander Sherry Flynn (Oakland, NJ) (4-5) struck out three but allowed all eight runs. Ferriello was 3 for 4 with two RBI and Karen Thorne (Fishkill, NY) hit a three-run homerun for STAC (18-24).

Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box