Box Score Box Score

Lantana, Fla. – The Adelphi University baseball team escaped a ninth inning jam and held on for a 2-1 win over Wilmington (Del.) University on Saturday at the Santaluces Sports Complex in the first of six games in Florida. The Panthers, now 5-1 on the season, left six runners on base and suffered several defensive and base running miscues, but dominant pitching and timely hitting in the late innings led Adelphi to their second straight win. Wilmington falls to 5-4 with the loss.
 
Junior Dillon McNamara started on the hill for Adelphi and threw six strong innings en route to a no-decision, scattering six hits for no earned runs, no walks and two strikeouts. Classmate James McCormack earned the win with a perfect inning of relief and two K's, and sophomore Matt Abramowitz picked up a one-out save to relieve senior Chris Pabisch, who cruised through 1.2 innings before placing runners on first and third with two outs in the ninth.
 
At the plate, Junior Anthony Zarrella ripped two base hits including the go-ahead RBI single in the eighth, and sophomore Chad Houghton knocked in the tying run in the seventh for one of his two hits. Freshman Vincent Sharkey stayed hot via two hits with a double and a run scored, and sophomore Richard Mejia singled twice to total four Panthers with multiple hits.
 
For Wilmington, Jordan Johnson and Jordan Oncay had two hits each, and Joe Harbach drove in the lone Wildcat run in the sixth. David Hatt threw seven solid innings on the mound, allowing no earned runs on nine hits and six strikeouts. Hatt pitched out of trouble several times in the early innings and preserved Wilmington's chance to win in what proved to be a genuine pitchers' duel.
 
Adelphi saw plenty of chances to score early on and stranded runners on first and second in the first and third innings, both of which ended with runners picked off at second base. Chances would be few and far between after that as McNamara and Hatt squared off in an expertly pitched affair that went scoreless into the sixth.
 
Wilmington took advantage of two errors on rundowns in the sixth, tagging the Panthers for an unearned run and taking a 1-0 lead. The Adelphi bats responded quickly, however, beginning with freshman Nick Zito. The rookie knocked a one-out single through the right side, stole second and moved to third after the throw skipped into center field. Houghton promptly made the Wildcats pay with a shot through the right side, tying the game at 1-1. McCormack made easy work of Wilmington in the top of the eighth, setting the stage for Sharkey to rip a leadoff double in the bottom half of the inning. Zarrella then delivered a one-out RBI single to give the Panthers the lead for good.
 
Pabisch came on in relief and worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and coaxed two quick outs in the ninth. Wilmington refused to go down easy, however, and a two-out single brought Oncay to the plate as the winning run. After a long battle in the box, highlighted by what nearly was a walkoff two-run homer that hooked just foul, Oncay smacked a single to right that put runners on first and third with two outs and the Panthers clinging to a 2-1 lead. Abramowitz got the call from the pen, and after jumping ahead in the count with two quick strikes, prompted a 4-6 fielder's choice to escape the jam and lift Adelphi to a 2-1 win.
 
Adelphi returns to action when they visit #9 Lynn University on Monday at 3 p.m. for one of two non-neutral site contests in Florida.