Garden City, N.Y. – A pair of bases-loaded walks ended things for the Adelphi University softball team on Sunday afternoon, as the Panthers opened up Northeast-10 Conference play with a sweep of the Merrimack Warriors, 4-3 and 8-0 in two games at Janet L. Ficke Field.

After seeing a 3-1 lead slip late in game one, the Panthers (8-8, 2-0 NE-10) rallied for the walkoff win as Brenna Martini worked out her free pass in the bottom of the seventh inning to force in the winning run. On the afternoon, Christina Palmenteri went 4-7 at the plate and drove in a pair of runs in game two, as she was one of four Panthers to record a pair of hits in the second game. Nicole Camera hit her second home run of the season en route to Adelphi's victory in game one, while seven players drove in at least one run in the nightcap. Krista King was the final batter of game two, as she too worked out a base on balls with the bases loaded to give Adelphi an 8-0 run-ruled victory in six innings.
 
Game 1
The Warriors (2-6, 0-2 NE-10) took the lead against Lindsay Mapes in the opening inning as Mariah Tenney singled to left and stole second to put herself in scoring position with one out. After Alyssa Williamson singled to put runners at the corners, she attempted to steal second base, but got caught in the rundown long enough to score Tenney to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Adelphi quickly responded in the bottom of the first, however, as Nicoletta Cuccio worked out a one out walk to put the tying run quickly on base. With two outs, Camera came to the plate and cracked a two-run shot to left center for her second home run of the season to put the Brown and Gold on top, 2-1. The Warriors had their best chance to tie the game in the top of the second, as Emily Kurkul singled to center with one out and pinch runner Breanna Dupuis stole second to get into scoring position. However, Palmenteri came up throwing on a ball that got past Martini at third, and the left fielder got Dupuis at the plate to keep Adelphi ahead by a run. That one-run lead stood up until the fifth, when the Panthers tacked on a third when Cuccio smacked a two-out triple to right that scored King from first base to extend the lead to 3-1.

Mapes ran into trouble in the seventh looking to close it out, as the Warriors loaded the bases with a single and two fielder's choice plays with nobody out. From there, the Warriors rallied for two runs to tie the game, but were turn aside looking for more when King made a diving snag in center to end the inning to save two runs.

The Panthers went right back to work looking for the walkoff, as Krista King and Palmenteri both reached base on bunt singles to begin the inning. After a pitching change, Cuccio worked out a walk to fill the bases for Martini, who duly worked out a walk of her own on a 3-2 count to get the RBI and the win for the Panthers.

Mapes picked up her third straight victory in the circle as she tossed her third consecutive complete game, as she scattered eight hits and four strikeouts over the seven innings.

Game 2
The Panthers got on top early in game two, as Kristin Fealy retired the Merrimack side in order to open the game, and the Brown and Gold took the lead straight away in the bottom of the inning. King and Lauren Sandelier each singled to start the first inning, before Martini drove a fly ball to right that allowed King to tag up and score all the way from second.

Adelphi tacked on a run in the second, third and fourth innings to open up a 4-0 lead for Fealy, as Palmenteri, Stephanie Staiano and Sandelier picked up each RBI respectively, before the Brown and Gold added two more runs in the fifth and sixth to put the game away. In the fifth, Danielle Cutuli doubled home Staiano, who worked out a one out walk, before duly being driven in by Palmenteri's double down the left field line to make it a 6-0 game. In the next frame, Camera led off with a single and Megan Lewis drove a double to put them both in scoring position. Stephanie Barbaro drove in Camera on a pinch-hit, RBI groundout, and after Merrimack loaded the bases by walking Cutuli and allowing Fallon McCarthy to reach on a fielder's choice, King worked out her walk to end the game at 8-0.

Fealy picked up her second victory of the season behind six shutout innings in the circle, scattering three hits, two walks and two strikeouts in her innings of work.

NOTES
- Camera and Martini are the only players on the Adelphi roster to have hit home runs thuse far this season.
- Mapes has tossed three consecutive complete games -- all Adelphi victories.
- The Panthers have won their last six games. 

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About Adelphi University Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past six seasons has collected 16 regular season conference titles, 21 tournament championships, 27 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 President's Cup twice (2013 and 2014), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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