Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - Sophomore Richard Mejia smashed a walkoff solo home run to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Adelphi University baseball team a 2-1 win over the University of New Haven at William J. Bonomo Field on Thursday. The Panthers improve to 23-20 overall and 11-8 in the Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division, gaining an important advantage over the Chargers in pursuit of the fourth postseason slot in the Southwest. With the loss, New Haven drops to 22-17-1 overall and 9-9-1 in the division.

The extra-inning affair saw commanding pitching performances from both squads, with Adelphi starter Dillon McNamara going nine innings and allowing a lone run on seven hits while striking out five. For the Chargers, starter Derek Drag went 6.2 inning, gave up just two hits and allowed one run when his inherited runner scored in the seventh. Adelphi stopper Matt Abramowitz earned the win with two innings of perfect relief, fanning four of the six batters he faced. Joey Royer took the loss for New Haven after surrendering the big fly to Mejia.

Seniors Craig Matteo and Jamie Liebowitz each went 2-4, with Matteo delivering the game-tying single with two outs in the seventh. Matteo also smoked a two-out double off the left field wall that was inches away from being a walkoff bomb in the bottom of the ninth.

Drag held the Panthers hitless into the fourth inning when Liebowitz blooped a single into shallow left field, but Adelphi would not threaten again until the seventh. Trailing 1-0 after Ryan Brockett's RBI base hit in the fifth, Chad Houghton cracked a two-out, pinch hit double over the right fielder's head to start a rally in the seventh. Matteo then laced a single up the middle, plating pinch runner John Campbell and tying the game at 1-1.

Matteo nearly ended the game in with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when he turned around a fastball and clanged it off the top of the left field wall for a double. Donato Signore, on first after a fielder's choice, sprinted around the third base bag but was hosed a the plate thanks to a perfect 7-5-2 relay from the left field warning track to end the inning.

McNamara held the Chargers in check the next two innings, retiring six of the last seven batters he faced with a pair of strikeouts. Abramowitz took over in the 10th and unveiled a dominant performance that set the stage for Mejia's game-winning blast in the 11th.

Needing to win one of the next two games against New Haven to secure a spot in the Northeast-10 Tournament, the Panthers close out the regular against the Chargers with a Sunday doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.