Garden City, N.Y. – After forcing game seven with a 3-4 loss to Caldwell, the Adelphi University softball team came back to earn a 9-4 victory over the Cougars Sunday afternoon and advance to Super Regionals. The team will play the winner of Southern New Hampshire/LIU Post, in a three-game series to determine who will advance to the College World Series.
Megan Lewis and
Jaclyn Binstock each collected three RBIs in the second game of the day, as Lewis went 3-for-4 at the plate.
Brenna Martini blasted a three-run shot in the first game and Binstock added insurance runs in game two with her three-run shot.
Lindsay Mapes and
Jasmine Ennabe combined for eight strikeouts over both games.
"I want to give a lot of credit to Mapes," commented Head Coach Bree Nasti. "
She was a workhorse, throwing a 16-inning game for us from Friday-Saturday which is attributed to her mental tenacity. With Jasmine constantly ready to go, the combo was able to keep us in the game and make us believe that if we put up a few [runs], we could win." Game Six (East Region Tournament Championship)
The Panthers threatened as early as the bottom of the first inning after winning the coin toss to earn the home team title. With two runners in scoring position, the Cougars ended the inning courtesy of a double play ball. The teams remained scoreless through four innings, until the Red and White gained momentum.
A Caitlin McCready triple to right center resulted in two runs followed by an RBI sac fly by Brielle Reighn gave Caldwell the 3-0 lead.
Krista King reached in the bottom half of the inning on an infield single and
Victoria Wink drew a two-out walk. With a swift stroke of the bat,
Brenna Martini knotted the game at three-apiece as she sent a ball 220-feet over the centerfield fence.
With one out in the top of the sixth, Amy Hickman was able to give the visitors a 4-3 lead by scoring on a Gracie Sullivan single through the right side.
Jasmine Ennabe came in to relieve
Lindsay Mapes and earned a big strikeout to end the inning.
The Panthers recorded back-to-back singles to start the sixth but were unable to capitalize as a Camera was caught at home and Caldwell's Amber Padilla got the final batter to groundout. Caldwell loaded the bases in the top of the seventh and Adelphi stranded two to force Game Seven of the Division II Softball East 1 Regional Tournament.
Game Seven (East Region Tournament Championship)
A sacrifice fly by Wink in the bottom of the first inning scored King to start the scoring spree for Adelphi.
Megan Lewis doubled to left center to bring two more runs around and give the Panthers a 3-0 lead after one complete inning. With two runners left on base for the Cougars, the Brown and Gold set them up for more scoring opportunities.
Wink drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and the hosts tacked on three more runs in the second courtesy of a three-run homer to left by Binstock. Lewis grabbed an RBI single in the fourth and Martini was able to scamper home on several Cougar miscues to jump out to a 9-0 lead.
A relentless Cougar dugout recorded three straight singles with one out, coupled with a two-run double for Kortney Craker to cut the Panther lead to seven. Marissa Monasseri singled up the middle, picking up two RBIs in the process to make it 9-4 in favor of Adelphi. Each team left three runners on base over the next three innings. A routine ground ball to Wink ended the Cougar run, sending the Panthers back to Super Regionals for the second time under the direction of Nasti.
"To be one of the last 16 teams playing is pretty awesome," stated Nasti. "The team was really gritty and tough this weekend, finding a mental state where they could do what they do best. We know that it's not easy to be here and I think this group deserves it after starting the way we did."
