Felician Athletics - 4/30/08 SOFTBALL - Softball Ends Season With Sweep Of GBC

LODI, N.J. – Senior catcher Heather Van Dyke (West Milford, NJ/West Milford) went 3 for 8 and drove in two runs in each game as the Felician College softball team won both ends of a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader, 5-0 and 4-2, over visiting Goldey-Beacom College on Wednesday at Kennedy Park. The games were the season finales for both schools.

Felician junior Nicole Broecker (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) struck out a season-high nine batters in pitching a four-hit shutout in Game 1. The Golden Falcons (16-23, 11-13) took advantage of three Goldey-Beacom errors to score two unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning, then took control with a three-run fourth. With two runners on and two out, Dara DeSocio (Cliffside Park, NJ/Paramus Catholic) pulled a run-scoring single, and Van Dyke followed with a two-run double down the left field line.

Broecker (7-8) escaped a second-and-third, none-out jam in the seventh for her fifth shutout of the season. She and Van Dyke each went 2 for 3 with a double, and junior Jenna Krowl (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) recorded her 100th career base hit. Lightning starting pitcher Kendra Russell (Wilmington, DE/Padua) allowed three earned runs, struck out four and walked none in six innings, and teammate Brittany Knotts (Felton, DE/Lake Forest) had a double.

GBC (7-30, 2-22) left 10 runners on base despite a 10-hit attack in Game 2. After starting pitcher DeSocio wriggled out of a bases-loaded, none-out situation with no runs in the top of the fourth, Felician erased a 2-0 deficit by scoring four times in the home half. With the bases loaded and one out, Van Dyke delivered a tying two-run single, and, one batter later, Krowl drove in two more with a single to left.

DeSocio (5-10) threw 132 pitches in completing her final career start. She struck out four and walked one. Russell and Knotts had two hits apiece, including first-inning RBI singles, for the Lightning, and pitcher Heather Draper (Bridgeville, DE/Seaford) allowed six hits and struck out five.

Felician’s DeSocio, Katie Spera (Lanoka Harbor, NJ/Lacey Township) and Van Dyke were honored in Senior Day ceremonies between games.

Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box