Box Score
Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University baseball team suffered a 6-2 setback to regionally-ranked Pace University in Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division action at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field on Tuesday. The Panthers are now 11-11-1 overall and 3-2 in the division, while the Setters, ranked ninth in the latest National College Baseball Writers Association East Region poll, improve to 15-7 overall and 4-1 in the Southwest.
Pace starting pitcher Robert Rizzitelli worked with a three-run first inning lead and didn't look back in the victory. Rizzitelli threw 7-plus innings and gave up one earned run on seven hits with seven strikeouts. The junior righty was economical early on and got through three innings on just 24 pitches. The Panthers finally chased Rizzitelli from the game in the eighth but could not crack reliever Josh Garran, who tossed two frames of one-hit, shutout baseball.
John Campbell and
Richard Mejia each went 2-4 for Adelphi, while
Nick Zito smashed an RBI double and scored a run.
Vincent Sharkey plated a run on an infield hit in the seventh and
Anthony Zarrella drew two walks while scoring a run. On the mound,
Jimmy Milani was saddled with the loss over three innings, and
Mike Cranston and
Ricky Van Allen were tagged for a run apiece in relief.
Dillon McNamara struck out a pair in a shutdown inning,
John Bivas worked a perfect eighth, and
John Donnelly extinguished a sizeable Pace threat with a bases-loaded strikeout to end the seventh.
For the Setters, Joe Solomeno batted 2-4 with a double and two RBI, and Charlie Galasso ripped two singles to go with a run, RBI, walk and stolen base. James Pjura delivered an RBI base hit in the first , scored twice and swiped two bags to round out an efficient Pace offense that scored six runs on seven hits.
An opening-frame three spot put the Setters out in front for good as Pjura knocked in Galasso and moved to second on an outfield fielding miscue. Solomeno then lofted a sacrifice fly for the second run and Ian Wutkitsch poked an RBI base knock to assemble a 3-0 lead after half an inning.
Galasso drove in the fourth Setter run in the second, and Solomeno's line drive double in the fifth pushed the lead to 5-0. Zito cracked a double for the Panthers in the bottom of the fifth to shake up Rizzitelli's rhythm briefly after the hurler faced the minimum through 13 outs. Adelphi would not find the scoreboard til the seventh, however, after Pace had already taken a 6-0 lead on a bases-loaded hit batter in the top of the frame. Donnelly's timely K evaded a potentially disastrous inning and set up his hitters to push across a pair of runs in the bottom half. Zarrella worked a leadoff walk and Mejia laced a single to start the rally, and Zito chopped a fielder's choice to bring in Zarrella and make it 6-1. A two-out throwing error extended the inning and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Sharkey, who sliced a ball to third for an RBI infield hit that made the score 6-2 after seven.
McNamara was sharp in the top of the eighth and the first two Adelphi batters reach in the bottom turn to end Rizzitelli's outing, but Garran recorded three quick outs to leave a duo of runners stranded. Bivas proceeded to retire the Setters in order to bring up Signore to lead off the home half of the ninth. The shortstop led off with a single up the middle but was quickly erased after
Anthony Infante hit a rocket back to the pitcher for the 1-3 double play. Another screaming infield lineout ended the contest by a final score of 6-2.
The Panthers return to non-league action tomorrow when they travel to take on the Kutztown University Bears, who are ranked 13th in the latest Collegiate Baseball national poll. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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