West Haven, Conn. --  After both teams checked in inside the top five of the first edition of the NCAA Division II East Regional rankings on Wednesday, the Adelphi University softball team and the Chargers of the University of New Haven played to a split of a Southwest Division, Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader on Wednesday in West Haven. The home team claimed game one by a 6-2 final, before the Panthers hit back with a 10-5 second game win in a game called due to darkness. 

Krista King, Nicoletta Cuccio and Brenna Martini all posted two-hit games for Adelphi (23-15, 13-4 NE-10) in the victory, as the trio each went 2-3 at the plate in game two with two runs scored. Martini, who also walked four times and scored a run in the first game, and Megan Lewis each drove in three runs in game two, while Lewis and Cuccio accounted for the two Adelphi runs in the first game.

Game 1
The Blue and Gold (17-9, 9-7 NE-10) got on the board early with a pair of first inning runs off Lindsay Mapes, and held the lead for the duration of the game. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Chargers in the first inning, and they plated two runs on a passed ball and a groundout. Mapes limited the damage from there, and got into a groove as she did not allow another hit until the fifth inning.

The Panthers halved the lead in the third, as Krista King reached on a one-out fielder's choice, advanced her way to second and scored on Cuccio's two-out double to right. After Martini was intentionally walked, however, New Haven starter Nicole King got Nicole Camera to foul out and end the inning.

In the fifth, the first two Charger batters reached safely as Sierra Whitlock beat out an infield single and Jen Palase followed with a single to center. After both advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch, Whitlock scored on a sacrifice fly, before the second run came in unearned as Adelphi committed its third fielding error of the game. An inning later, the final two Charger runs in the sixth came on the same play. After a leadoff infield single by Julie Devlin, Whitlock drove her in with a triple to left, before scoring on a throwing error to make it a 6-1 game. 

Adelphi attempted to rally in the top of the seventh, as a pair of one out walks to Cuccio and Martini brought Camera to the plate. After Camera singled, Cuccio tested the arm of Whitlock in left and tried to score but was thrown out at the plate ahead of Lewis' RBI single that made it a 6-2 game. With the tying run on deck, however, Stephanie Staiano lined out to third to end the opener. 

Game 2
In game two, it was Adelphi that scored a pair of runs in the opening inning to break the ice, in an inverse of game one. After King singled and Cuccio walked, Martini delivered with a single to center and took second on the throw before Lewis' RBI groundout tacked on a second run. 

Kristin Fealy worked in and out of trouble for the first two innings, as she was faced with runners at the corners and one out in the bottom of the inning, but responded by getting the next two hitters to pop out and fly out, before working out of a bases-loaded situation in the second, to keep it a 2-0 game.

The top of the third decided the game for the Panthers, as they exploded for five runs on four hits to turn a 2-0 game into a 7-0 one. Four straight hits, which began with a King single and featured an RBI triple from Martini and an RBI single from Lewis, were part of a string of five straight Adelphi batters to reach and force a Charger pitching change. That did little to help the Chargers, however, as Alyssa Monteverde walked Staiano, Danille Cutuli and Fallon McCarthy in succession to lead to two more Adelphi runs and a 7-0 lead. Finally, the third Charger pitcher of the inning was able to record the final two outs, but not before damage was done. 

The Chargers broke through for two runs against Fealy in the third, as a single and an error put two runners on ahead of a Gabby DeLeo two-run double that made it 7-2 before Fealy induced the groundout from Whitlock to end the inning. The Panthers were quick to respond with two in the fourth, as Martini walked and Camera doubled to set the table. From there, Lewis drove in Martini with a sacrifice fly, and Camera advanced to third on a throwing error which allowed her to score on Staiano's ensuing single. Adelphi's final run came in the fifth, as Christina Palmenteri led off with a bunt single, stole second and came home on Cuccio's one-out RBI single. 

Three of the first fourth Chargers reached bases on base hits against Fealy in the fifth, which led to a run, before the final two Charger runs of the inning came on back-to-back miscues from the Panthers that made it 10-5 later in the frame. However, Fealy ended the inning by inducing a liner to Cutuli at short, and the game was then called due to darkness. 

The Panthers return to action this weekend, when they travel to American International for the start of a three game series with the Yellow Jackets with a Saturday doubleheader at 12 pm.

NOTES
- The Chargers are the top team in the first edition of the East Region rankings, while the Panthers checked in at No. 3. 
- With 46 RBIs thus far, Martini ranks tied for fifth in the program's single-season RBIs, needing six to beat her fourth-place freshman mark of 51.
- Lewis snapped a streak of five games without an RBI with four total on Wednesday.

---

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, 20 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.