Garden City, NY - After falling behind 5-1 in the fourth, the Adelphi University baseball team rallied for a 6-5 win in 11 innings against Saint Thomas Aquinas during non-conference action today that pushes the current win streak to five games.
With runners on second and third,
Michael Stack hit a chopper to first base that allowed John Cuttita to beat the throw home and score the winning run for the Panthers (9-9). Cuttita was on as a pinch-runner for
Camden Orologio who led the inning with a double to left field.
Vincent Sharkey managed to reach first on a sacrifice bunt and push Cuttita to third to set up the game-winning at-bat for Stack.
Sharkey joined
Robert Vani,
Nick Zito, and
Kory Cassara with two hits each while Stack picked up two RBI, including the game-winner.
Ricky Van Allen struck out five in 2.0 innings of work in reflief while
Mike Cranston earned the win by pitching a flawless top of the 11th.
Joseph Pena led the Spartans (13-8-1) with three hits and two runs scored in six at-bats while Jonathan McGugan and Rich Baerga tallied two hits and Baerga added two RBI. Frankie Moscatiello started the game for Saint Thomas Aquinas with 6.0 innings and three strikeouts.
Each team scored a run in the first before the Spartans broke out for two more in the second inning. Baerga picked up both runs in the second with a two-RBI single to centerfield. Saint Thomas Aquinas added two more in the fourth with two RBI singles, taking a 5-1 lead midway through the fourth.
The Brown and Gold started its comeback in the next half inning as Vani scored the first of three runs in the frame on a wild pitch.
Eric Hassell drove in Cassara on a double for the next run before scoring himself on a
John Fogarty single to bring Adelphi within one at 5-4.
With one out in the eighth and runners on first and second,
Donato Signore tied the game for the Panthers with a RBI single to centerfield and scoring Zito. Both bullpens held strong in the ninth and 10th innings before Adelphi broke through in the bottom of the 11th with Cuttita's winning run.
The Panthers look to continue their winning ways tomorrow afternoon by hosting Pace for a 3:30 pm Northeast-10 Conference game.