Waterbury, Conn. -- After dropping the opening game of a non-conference doubleheader at Post University on Saturday afternoon, the Adelphi University softball team rebounded in a big way in game two by hitting three home runs and scoring six in the fifth inning en route to a 9-1 victory to earn the split. 

Brenna Martini hit two of Adelphi's (16-10) three home runs in game two, as part of a 2-6 day at the plate with four RBIs and two runs scored. Junior Christina Palmenteri hit her first career home run in the second game, a two-run shot, as she also scored two runs on the afternoon. Nicole Camera and Megan Lewis each went 2-3 at the plate with a run scored in game two, while Lauren Sandelier went 2-4 at the plate and scored two of Adelphi's four runs in the 8-4 game one setback. 

Game 1
The Eagles (10-15) jumped on Lindsay Mapes early, spotting a four-run first inning behind a pair of home runs -- one for three RBIs off the bat of Emily Schaffer and a solo shot from Marissa Wilson -- before tacking on two more in the second as Kayla Kresley went deep for a two-run homer. 

However, the Panthers posted a three-run third inning to halve the home team's lead to 6-3 as Palmenteri and Krista King legged out singles to the infield to set the table with one out. Sandelier followed with another single up the middle to drive in Palmenteri and put Adelphi on the board, and Martini drove in King with a sacrifice fly to right. From there, Nicole Camera reached on an error by the Post third baseman which was enough to score Sandelier, before Lewis was retired to end the inning.

Adelphi's best chance to get closer in the game came in the fourth, as Stephanie Staiano reached on an error to lead off, before advancing to second on a passed ball ahead of a walk to Danielle Cutuli. However, Post starter Samantha Esque rebounded by striking out Fallon McCarthy and Palmenteri, and got King to fly out to left to end the Adelphi threat. 

Kara Ragazzone, the Eagles' designated player, was responsible for the final two Post runs by delivering the RBI in the fourth and sixth to give the home team an 8-3 lead headed to the seventh. After reaching on a one-out single, Sandelier scored when Martini reached on an error, but both Camera and Lewis were retired to end the game from there. 

Game 2
The long ball was a feature for both teams on the afternoon, and Martini's first blast of game two was a two-run shot in the first inning; with one out, she parked the ball over the left field fence to also score King -- who led off the frame with a single. The Eagles quickly got one back in the bottom of the frame, as Kresley hit her second homer of the afternoon off of Kristin Fealy to cut the Panther advantage to 2-1. 

The next two innings went by scoreless for both teams, but Martini struck again with a solo shot to lead off the fourth to make it a 3-1 game. Adelphi had a chance to add more afterwards, when Camera and Lewis followed with singles, but the side was retired from there. After Fealy retired the side in order in the bottom of the fourth, the Panthers broke the game open with a six-run fifth inning that saw seven Panthers reach base, and five Adelphi hits as the visitors batted around.

After McCarthy walked to lead off, Palmenteri hit the third Adelphi home run of the game to left to make it a 5-1 contest and force a Post pitching change. From there, King walked, stole second, advanced to third on an error and came around to score on a Martini groundout. With two outs, the Adelphi scoring continued as Camera singled before consecutive doubles by Lewis and Staiano led to two more Adelphi runs. With McCarthy due up again as the Brown and Gold cycled through the order, Sandelier came up to pinch hit and singled to left to score Staiano and cap the six-run inning for the Panthers.

Fealy worked around a two-out walk in the fifth to retire the side and end the game to pick up her team-leading eighth victory of the season, as the Kresley home run was the only hit she allowed over the course of the game while striking out four.

The Panthers return to action on Wednesday, March 30th with a 3pm Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader vs. Pace.

NOTES
- Martini's eight home runs and 31 RBIs lead the NE-10.
- Adelphi's 14 home runs as a team lead the NE-10.
- With 10 hits in game two, the Panthers recorded double-digit hits for the 11th time this season.

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About Adelphi 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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