Garden City, N.Y. -- The Adelphi University softball team claimed another pair of Northeast-10 Conference victories on Ficke Field on Saturday, as the Panthers swept the visiting Assumption College Greyhounds by 4-1 and 10-6 scores.

Krista King and Christina Palmenteri each recorded a pair of hits in the opener, while Palmenteri also scored a run and picked up an RBI. Nicole Camera drove in the first run of the opener for the Brown and Gold (13-9, 4-0 NE-10), while Brenna Martini drove in another. Megan Lewis hit her first home run of the season -- a two-run shot -- in game two, while Stephanie Staiano also drove in a pair in the nightcap, which included her first career home run.

Game 1
Lindsay Mapes set the tone for her day early, as she struck out two batters -- the first of her 13 punchouts on the afternoon -- in the top of the first and was staked to an early 1-0 lead when Nicoletta Cuccio -- who was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom of the inning -- came around to score on Camera's two-out single. 

Adelphi's best chance to add to its lead in the first four innings came in the third, as Palmenteri reached on an error and King singled to put two runners on with one out, but neither came around to score. As that 1-0 lead held for the Panthers for much of the game, Mapes worked around several baserunners in the first four innings -- and stranded the tying run in scoring position in the third -- but eventually surrended a solo shot to Cassie Schultz in the top of the fifth that tied the game at 1-1.

However, the Panthers responded quickly in the bottom of the inning, as Palmenteri and King led off with singles to force an Assumption pitching change. After Cuccio reached on a fielder's choice when the Greyhounds were unable to get an out on the bases, Martini flew out to deep center to score Palmenteri and put the Panthers back in front, 2-1. Mapes shut the door from there, as she struck out the side after allowing a leadoff single in the sixth, and the Brown and Gold responded by scoring a pair in the bottom of the inning to push the lead to 4-1. With two outs, Danielle Cutuli worked out a walk before pinch hitter Lauren Sandelier drove a ball to center field that was misplayed to score Cutuli and give her three bases; in the next at bat, Palmenteri singled to short to drive in Sandelier and make it a three-run game. 

Mapes ended the game with a flourish, as she struck out the side to pick up the win in the circle, after again hurling a complete game effort and scattering five hits and 13 strikeouts across seven innings. 

Game 2
After getting the side in order in the top of the first, Kristin Fealy was staked to an early 3-0 lead thanks in part to Lewis, who hit her shot to left to also score Camera with the Panthers already leading 1-0 in the opening frame. However, the Greyhounds (4-11-1, 1-2-1 NE-10) got two back in the second, as Kayli Moniz matched Lewis with a two-run shot of her own, which would become the first of two homers that she hit in the contest.

The Panthers added a run in the second to lead 4-2 before Fealy worked around two errors and a wild pitch in the third to hold the Greyhounds at bay, allowing Adelphi to add three more in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-2 lead. After Martini led off with a triple and Lewis walked to put runners at the corners, Staiano cashed in with a single to right to score Martini and advance Lewis to third as she took second on the throw. A sac fly off the bat of Cutuli drove in Lewis and a Fallon McCarthy single up the middle scored Staiano to bring an end to the scoring in the inning and give Fealy a five-run cushion.

Staiano's home run came with two out in the fifth, as the junior parked one over the left field fence, before the Greyhounds got that run back in the top of the 6th courtesy of two hits and a walk which made it an 8-3 contest. In the sixth, however, Adelphi took its biggest lead of the game by adding two more runs, as Sandelier and Martini each collected RBIs -- and the Panthers needed that insurance in the seventh, as the Greyhounds tagged Camera for three runs, including Moniz's second two-run shot of the game, on four hits before she settled down to end the game with a 10-6 score.

With tomorrow's double header vs. Caldwell postponed due to the forecast, the Panthers will return to action on Wednesday, March 23 when they host Southern Connecticut in a 2 pm NE-10 doubleheader.

NOTES
- Staiano, a junior transfer from Dowling College, hit her first career home run in either collegiate uniform.
- Martini's 25 RBIs leads the NE-10.
- Fealy has won six straight games, and she and Mapes are tied for second in the NE-10 in wins.

---

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.

For the latest on Adelphi University Athletics, follow the Panthers at www.aupanthers.com or via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat.