Felician Athletics - 4/29/08 SOFTBALL - No. 20 GCU Strikes Late To Down Felician, 8-2

LAKEWOOD, N.J. – Nationally-ranked Georgian Court University scored six runs in its final two at-bats for an 8-2 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference softball victory over visiting Felician College on Thursday afternoon at GCU Field. The loss eliminates Felician from contention for a CACC Tournament berth.

GCU’s Jessica Comiskey (Ewing, NJ) broke a 2-2 tie when she led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo homerun, chasing Felician starting pitcher Dara DeSocio (Cliffside Park, NJ) (4-10). The Lions (37-12, 22-2) then tacked on five runs off of the Golden Falcon bullpen. Pam Marshall (Magnolia, NJ) had a two-run double later in the fifth, then capped a three-run sixth inning with a two-run single.

Felician (14-23, 9-13) scored two unearned runs in the first inning for the early lead. After two were out, the Lions committed back-to-back errors on ground balls. The Golden Falcons took advantage with consecutive RBI singles from Nicole Broecker (Staten Island, NY) and Rebecca Dodd (Oakland, NJ). Georgian Court right-hander Samantha Sasko (Groveville, NJ) (26-6), however, escaped a first-and-third, one-out jam in the third, then allowed only one more baserunner the rest of the day. Sasko gave up five hits, struck out eight batters and walked none in six innings.

Heather Walker (Hanover, Ontario) went 2 for 2 with a homerun and four runs scored for the Lions, while Marshall finished 2 for 2 with four RBI off the bench. Dodd was 2 for 3 and DeSocio allowed five hits and struck out two in four-plus innings for Felician.

The contest was a make-up from when Game 2 of a scheduled doubleheader between the teams on Apr. 12 was rained out before becoming official. GCU, ranked fourth regionally, is the No. 20 team in the most recent national Division II coaches’ poll.

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