Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University baseball team split a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader with Stonehill College on Sunday, winning game one 9-8 on a walkoff error to complete a four-run ninth inning rally, and falling 12-1 in the nightcap. The Panthers picked up their first league win of the season, moving to 9-8 overall and 1-3 in league play, while the Skyhawks are now 14-7 and 2-1 in the NE-10.

For Adelphi, junior Anthony Zarrella doubled in each game, and Richard Mejia and Lucas Romeo each knocked a pair of hits in game one. The Panthers used five pitchers in each game, with senior Chris Murphy earning the win in relief in the opener.

Stonehill pounded out 24 hits between both contests, including 14 in game two. Michael Zeiner paced the offense with a 6-8 performance on the day, and Eric Haughn tossed a complete game three-hitter without allowing an earned run in the 12-1 victory.

The first game proved to be a wild one as the Skyhawks put up a five-spot in the top of the first inning on four hits and an error. Stonehill opened up the lead to 7-0 with two more runs in the second via three hits and another defensive miscue, but Adelphi chipped away with a pair in the bottom half of the inning on back-to-back bases-loaded walks by John Campbell and Vincent Sharkey.

The Panthers narrowed the gap again in the fourth as Zarrella smacked a two-out bases-clearing double to capitalize on a pair of Skyhawk errors in the inning. Sharp relief pitching by Chris Pabisch, Mike Cranston and Michael Carletti kept things close over the later innings, but an RBI single for the visitors in the top of the ninth put Adelphi up against the ropes, facing an 8-5 deficit with three outs to go.

Some last inning heroics helped the Panthers pull off a four-run rally, beginning with a leadoff pinch hit bunt single by Justin Farnum. Farnum then moved to third as Sharkey reached first on an error, but two quick K's had Adelphi down to its last out. Jamie Liebowitz started the two-out magic with an RBI single through the right side, followed a two-run double by Mejia that tied the game. Jacob Beard came to the plate with Mejia representing the winning run at second, and a throwing error on the infield allowed Mejia to come around and score the winning run in unconventional walkoff fashion.

The Panthers did not fare as well in game two, as Zarrella, Romeo and Steven Lander mustered the only Adelphi hits of the game. Stonehill plated runs in five separate innings, including nine between the last three frames, and had four players with multiple hits.

Starting pitcher Jeff Andersen battled for Adelphi, going 4.2 innings and allowing three runs with six strikeouts for the loss. None of Adelphi's four relievers escaped without allowing a run, as the persistent Stonehill bats mashed 14 hits and drew nine walks.

Adelphi returns to action on Wednesday for a rematch of the 2011 NCAA East Region Finals when the Panthers host Southern Connecticut State University for an NE-10 contest at 3:30 p.m.