Box Score
Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University baseball team cut an eight-run deficit in half but could not complete the comeback in an 8-4 setback to Southern Connecticut State University in a Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division contest at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field on Wednesday. The Panthers slip to 18-20-1 overall and 7-7 in the division, while the Owls jump to 18-16-1 overall and 4-10 in the Southwest.
So. Connecticut slowly built a 4-0 lead before exploding for four more runs in the top of sixth, but the Panthers answered with four runs of their own in the home half to make it an 8-4 game. Neither team would touch home plate again, however, as the visitors held on to take their first win in three meetings between the two squads this year.
For Adelphi,
Kevin Hutzel went 2-4 with a two-run single and
Nick Zito chipped in two hits and an RBI. Starting pitcher
Jonathon Mulford took the loss after allowing three earned runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings with three strikeouts. Reliever
Dillon McNamara looked dominant in two hitless innings, striking out three of six batters while receiving some flashy defensive help from Zito in right field and
Brandon Stahl at shortstop to rob the Owls of two potential hits.
Alex Wichmann swung the hot bat for So. Connecticut, finishing the day 3-5 with a double and four RBI. Michael Cleary and T.J. Shea both went 2-4 with two runs and drove in one, while Nick Baviello singled twice. Rocco Cundari secured the win in seven innings on the hill, allowing just two earned runs while scattering nine hits and ringing up five batters. Pat Egan tossed two scoreless frames out of the pen and gave up a lone hit while K'ing a pair.
A run on two hits in the opening inning put the Owls up early, and Wichmann's double followed by a Cleary sac fly pushed the visitors in front 3-0 after four. Wichmann struck again the following inning by cracking a one-run single, but reliever
Jeff Andersen came on with bases loaded and delivered a crucial strikeout to strand three runners.
The Owls would not go so quitely in the sixth, however, as they pushed across four runs on five hits to go up 8-0. Cleary poked a leadoff single, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Baviello's line drive to left center. T.K. Kiernan followed with a hit back up the middle and a walk loaded the bases for Shea, who singled to right to score Baviello. Adelphi reliever
John Bivas knocked down a comebacker and got the force at the plate for the second out, but Wichmann came through again with a single to center that tallied two more runs.
The Panthers unleashed a four-run surge of their own in the bottom of the sixth, beginning with back-to-back singles for
Vincent Sharkey and
Donato Signore to start the stanza. A flyout moved Sharkey to third and a fielding error scored him while putting runners on first and third. Zito drove in another run with a base hit to right and Hutzel dropped a single down the left field line to pick up two RBI. A double play retired the side, but not before the hosts halved the deficit for an 8-4 score.
McNamara silenced the Owl bats over the next two innings, but Adelphi could not convert with runners on base as another double play erased a first-and-third with one-out scenario in the seventh. Similarly in the eighth, Stahl belted a leadoff double and a fielding error put runners on the corners with nobody out. Zito then lined into a double play to negate the runner at first and an infield pop-up ended the inning with no damage.
Consecutive walks to start the bottom of the ninth put the Panthers in position to rally again, but Egan rattled off three quick outs to end the contest.
The Panthers head to Concordia College for a non-league contest on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
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