The KU softball team (16-16, 4-4) swept Felician College (11-21, 7-9) in a double header on Tuesday, April 8 at North Campus Field behind the shut-down pitching of sophomore Dominique Ficara, who did not allow a single run in 12 innings pitched.
In game one, the Golden Bears scored two runs in the sixth inning for the 2-0 victory. Their win in game two was an 11-0 blow-out that was shortened to five innings.
Game one featured a great pitching duel as Felician’s Kristen Tenwolde (6-12) and KU’s Ficara (9-9) allowed only five hits in the contest. Both teams had only recorded one hit heading into the sixth inning.
Tenwolde appeared a little shaky in the sixth surrendering walks to Morgan Booth and Katie Lynch to start the inning. After a Colleen Smith single loaded the bases, Nicole Henninger stepped to the plate with no outs and a chance to give her team the lead. Henninger did just that, hitting a sacrifice fly to right field, that the outfielder dropped, scoring Booth and Lynch.
Smith, who was announced PSAC East Player of the Week on Monday for her outstanding hitting performance last week, had both of the Golden Bears’ two hits. Smith leads the team in average (.435), RBI’s (33) and home runs (11).
Ficara had two strike-outs, allowing zero walks and three hits in her ninth victory of the season.
In game two, KU’s bats came alive, pouring in ten runs on seven hits and one error in the first two innings off Felician’s starting pitcher who didn’t make it out of the third inning. The 11 runs scored in the game matched their season high.
The victory was a team effort with seven of the 13 KU hitters recording an RBI. Freshmen Jessica Kurtz had the only multi-hit game, going 2-2 with two RBI’s. Henninger also had two RBI’s and is tied for second on the team with Brianna Knipe and Jackie Hetzler with 21 on the season.
With her second win of the day, Ficara again allowed no walks and threw 35 of her 51 pitches for strikes. Ficara has been dealing lately and has not allowed a run in 19 consecutive innings dating back to her shut-out against East Stroudsburg on April 6. She leads the team in ERA (2.70), wins (10), innings pitched (119.1) and strike-outs (54).
The KU women are on a four-game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 25-2 in that span.
They return to action against the Holy Family University Tigers on Wednesday, April 10 for a double header. Their next conference match-up is a double header against West Chester University on Friday. Both days are slated for 2:30 p.m. starting times at North Campus Field.

By Billy Felo