Albany, N.Y. -- Crooked numbers were the story for the Adelphi University baseball team on Saturday, as the Panthers exploded for 16 runs on 19 hits in a 16-3 game one victory against the College of Saint Rose, before the host Golden Knights used a five-run fifth to earn a 7-1 win in the nightcap to split a critical Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division doubleheader.

Robert Vani powered Adelphi (22-20, 12-10 NE-10) in game one, as he went 4-5 at the plate, including a three-run homer in the seventh, with a career-high six RBIs. Alex Zykoff had a big day at the plate for Adelphi as well, as he went 6-9 at the plate with a combined two RBIs, and also scored four runs in the opener. Jonathan Iadevaia and Kory Cassara each went 2-5 in the opener, as Iadevaia scored two runs in the leadoff spot and Cassara drove in two.

Getting the win for Adelphi in game one was Jonothan Mulford, who pitched 7.2 innings and worked around eight hits while allowing three runs and striking out four. Michael Tarpey came in to finish up, allowing just one hit in 1.1 innings of relief and fanning three Golden Knights (17-14, 11-5 NE-10).

Game 1
Vani's two-run double in the first inning of game one put the Panthers on top early, as his two-out hit scored both Steven Withers and Eric Hassell, who were hit by pitches earlier in the inning.

Saint Rose halved the lead in the bottom of the second, as a one-out double from Joe DeLuca was the first hit against Mulford. DeLuca then advanced to third on a wild pitch and came around to score on Alec Caprarella's sacrifice fly to make it a 2-1 ballgame.

However, from there is was all Adelphi, as the Panthers scored 13 unanswered runs over the next five innings and were only held off the scoreboard in the fourth. The Brown and Gold put up a three-spot in the third to take a 5-1 lead, as Withers, Hassell, Zykoff and Vani stroked four straight singles to plate a pair of runs before Brett Malm tacked on a run with an RBI groundout. 

The Panthers broke it open in the fifth, scoring five runs on six hits -- highlighed by a two-run triple by Michael Stack that made it an 8-1 game. After a Golden Knights pitching change, Zack Levinson and Withers also drove in runs to make it 10-1, before two errors in the field for the home team in the sixth led to another Adelphi run. The Panthers capped off their scoring in the seventh, as Vani's three-run blast to left ended the four-run frame.

The Golden Knights got two off Mulford in the bottom of the eighth, as a two-out single led to two doubles and both runs. However, Tarpey came in to record the final out of the inning via the strikeout to send the game to the ninth. As was the case in the first, two more Adelphi batters were hit to lead off the ninth to lead to the Panthers' 16th anf final run, as Kevin Krippel drove in Zykoff with the final run of the game. From there, Tarpey worked around a walk and a single in the bottom of the ninth with two strikeouts to end the game.

Game 2
Adelphi had two early scoring chances in game two, but were unable to cash in on either opportunity -- the beginnings of an afternoon in which they stranded eight runners on base. Iadevaia led off game two with a walk, but was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Hassell's groundout to end the opening inning; in the second, Zykoff and Vani both singled to set the table, but the ensuing three batters were retired to end the threat.

A one-out RBI triple off the bat of Derek Reed put TJ Santiago behind in the third, and the home team added another run on a two-out, RBI single. Adelphi had a runner on in the fourth and fifth, but were again unable to score, and the Golden Knights put up a five-spot in the bottom of the fifth to put the game out of reach. In total, the Golden Knights took advantage of three Adelphi errors and tallied two hits to lead to five runs, as two scored on Santiago's throwing error in the middle of the inning, before a two-run single off the bat of Mike Flynn saw a third run score on a throwing error.

It was all zeros for both sides until the top of the eighth inning in which pinch-hitter John Fogarty walked with one out, stole second and came around to score on Zykoff's RBI single. However, the Panthers were unable to score runners from second and third to add any more runs to their tally, and were turned aside with three strikeouts after a leadoff single in the ninth.

The Panthers return to action for the series finale against the Golden Knights at 1 pm on Sunday.

NOTES
- Game 1 marked the fourth time this season the Panthers scored more than 10 runs.
- Vani's previous career-high in RBIs was three, set against Dominican College earlier this year.
- Adelphi (10-6 division) sits in second place in the Southwest behind Pace (9-5) and ahead of Saint Rose (8-5).

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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 18 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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