April 5, 2011

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University softball team played host to in-region rival Georgian Court on Tuesday, April 5. The Panthers stole game one from Georgian Court, 6-3 with a three run walk off home run in the seventh, and had two on and two out, trailing, 2-1 in game two, but could not pull out the victory. The split leaves Adelphi at 8-16 overall, while Georgian Court is 10-16.

Game One
Georgian Court led the game off with a single and scored the first two runs of the game on a double and a fielder's choice, taking a quick 2-0 lead after one half inning of play. The Panthers began chipping away at the Lions two run lead in the bottom of the fourth, when a Jeanine Leo single and stolen base turned into a run thanks to a Paige Rhodes single, cutting the lead in half, 2-1.

Adelphi would knot the game at two in the bottom of the fifth when Leo drove home Amy Ogden, who got on base thanks to a Lion error earlier in the inning. Georgian Court would retake the lead in the top of the sixth, but Adelphi would answer back one more time, tying the score at three thanks to a Salerno single that scored Deandra Leo.

Leighann Bell held Georgian Court scoreless in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for Adelphi to steal the win. Shay Craig was the first runner on, thanks to a one out single. Rhodes followed Craig with a two out single, putting runners on first and third for Maria Canino, who stroked a bomb over the wall in left center to give Adelphi a 6-3 victory.

Bell earned the win, her fourth of the season, pitching all seven innings, striking out five and giving up just three runs. Leo, Rhodes, Salerno and Emily Dorko had two hits apiece, while Canino was 1-2 with three RBI in the win.

Game Two
Game two was a pitchers dual, as both teams were blanked through six innings. Georgian Court opened the top of the seventh with back-to-back home runs off of Katie Andrews, taking a quick 2-0 edge. Andrews, however would recover to set the next three batters down in order.

Leo led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run of her own, pulling Adelphi within one, 2-1. Amanda Krier and Rhodes would follow with singles, giving the Panthers runners on first and second with no outs. Deandra Leo popped out to the catcher and Canino followed with a long fly out to left, bringing up Salerno. Salerno hit the ball hard to straight away center, but did not get enough of it, flying out to end the game.

Andrews was credited with the loss, tossing five innings of four hit seven strike out softball, while Rhodes started the game, throwing two innings and giving up five hits and no runs. Offensively Krier was 2-4, getting half of Adelphi's hits and Leo and Rhodes picked up the other hits.

Adelphi returns to action on Wednesday, April 6 when they play host to Northeast-10 Conference member Assumption at 3:00 pm.