Box Score
Lake Worth, Fla. - The Adelphi University baseball team assembled a four-run ninth inning rally but could not overcome an eight-run deficit in Sunday's 8-6 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas College at Dave Manzo Field. The Panthers slide to 3-2-1 overall while the regionally-ranked Spartans improve to 5-3 on the season.
After falling behind 8-0 after seven innings, Adelphi scored two in the top of the eighth and four in the ninth but fell just short as the Spartans put the game away with the go-ahead run at the plate.
"If there's any such thing as a gratifying loss, today was it," said Panthers Head Coach
Dom Scala, noting the effort of a combined 13 position players and four pitchers who saw action in the game. "I'm very proud of the guys who came in late in the game and played the way they did. This team never gives up."
Junior
Chad Houghton knocked a career-best four hits and reached base five times. The lefty ripped a clutch opposite-field base hit in the ninth inning that rolled past the St. Thomas Aquinas left fielder and allowed two runs to score, making it an 8-6 game. Freshman Matt Wasserman collected his first collegiate hit, RBI and run scored. The rookie outfielder scored Adelphi's second run of the day in the eighth, hustling all the way home from second base on a misplayed ground ball. The next inning, Wasserman chopped a one-out RBI single up the middle, then broke up a would-be double play with a hard slide into second base to allow a run to score and keep the inning alive.
For the Spartans, Stanley Susana went 3-4 with two runs scored and Mike Russo had a pair of hits and RBI. Joe DePool worked six innings of shutout baseball to earn the win, scattering four hits, walking four and striking out four. Brian Tompkins got the save by recording the final out of the game with the Spartans up two runs and the go-ahead run in the batter's box.
Chris Pabisch took the loss on the hill for Adelphi, giving up four runs (two earned) on eight hits with three walks and four K's in four innings.
Jimmy Milani threw an inning of relief, surrendering two runs charged to reliever
Ryan Corry on a sacrifice fly and a walk, but ultimately escaped a potentially disastrous inning by stranding the bases loaded.
The Panthers were haunted by free bases early in the contest. Five errors and six walks enabled St. Thomas Aquinas to gradually build an 8-0 lead over seven frames, while Adelphi hitters faltered with people on base and left a combined nine runners out to dry.
After a slew of lineup changes, the Panthers finally cracked the scoreboard in the eighth.
Anthony Vazzana and Wasserman drew back-to-back one out walks, followed by a two-out base knock by Houghton to juice the bases.
Kyle Ambury ripped a sharp grounder to second, but the infielder mishandled it, allowing Vazzana to score and Wasserman, who never stopped sprinting, to reach home from second base.
Adelphi refused to go quietly in the ninth and scored four times before subsiding.
Rob Burns reached on a one-out check-swing hit down the third base line, and
Ray Triano squeaked one through the right side to put runners at first and second. Vazzana walked again to load the bases for Wasserman, who bounced a single to center to score Burns. Gaetano rolled a bases-loaded grounder to shortstop for what looked to be a tailor-made 6-4-3 double play, but Wasserman rushed to second and made a hard-nosed clean side to break up the play. Triano scored and the bases remained loaded with two outs for Houghton, who spanked his fourth hit of the day to score Vazzana initially and bring Gaetano home after the ball rolled past the left fielder.
With two on and two outs, Ambury represented the go-ahead run. After several hard foul balls, Tompkins got Ambury to lift a lazy fly ball to center to end the game.
The Panthers return to action tomorrow against regional opponent Molloy College at Lynn University at 11 a.m.
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