BRIARCLIFF, N.Y. – The Caldwell College softball team split a non-conference doubleheader with Pace University Wednesday afternoon at Pace Field. The Cougars, who are now 12-5 on the season, won the first game, 14-8 before losing Game 2, 10-4.

Trailing 5-3 after three innings of Game 1, Caldwell struck for seven runs on seven hits in the top of the fourth to lead 10-5. Freshman Kristen Knorr (Monroeville, NJ/Delsea) led off the inning with a home run, and junior Amy Leal (New Bedford, MA/Bishop Stang) hit a two-run homer. Freshman Alyssa Calderon (Fontana, CA/Etiwanda) also hit a two-run double in the inning. After sophomore Jacklyn Bates (Waterloo, NY/Waterloo) singled in a run in the fifth, the Cougars scored three times in the seventh for a 14-5 advantage. Freshman Briana Gaspich (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) blasted her second home run of the season in the inning.

Junior pitcher Kourtney Wilson (Islip, NY/St. Anthony's) went the distance to improve to 6-2 on the season. Leal finished with three hits and four RBI, Knorr went 4-for-5, and Gaspich and Calderon each had three hits.

In the second game, Pace scored two runs in the second inning, two in the third and three more in the fifth to take a commanding 7-0 lead. The Cougars got on the scoreboard in the sixth, when Calderon hit a two-run homer and sophomore Nicole Velardi (Belleville, NJ/Belleville) hit a solo shot. But the Setters scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to restore their seven-run lead, 10-3. Junior Dia Cascone (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) homered in the seventh to make the final score 10-4.

Cascone went 3-for-4 and Velardi had two hits for Caldwell. Freshman pitcher Hanna Walkinshaw (Aptos, CA/Aptos) started and absorbed the loss to fall to 3-2. Samantha Garcia went 3-for-3 with five RBI for Pace.

The Cougars host Felician College on Friday, Mar. 23 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader. The first game starts at 2:30 p.m. at Caldwell Field.