East 2 Regional Tournament Central

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Garden City, N.Y. -- Seeded #3 in the East 2 Regional on Janet L. Ficke Field, the Adelphi University softball team posted a pair of shutout victories, 6-0 over #6 Pace and 5-0 over #7 Molloy in nine innings to advance to the regional final on Saturday afternoon.

Brenna Martini smacked a grand slam in game one to power Adelphi (31-20) to a victory over their conference rivals, before extra innings were needed to decide a champion in the match between the two winners. In the top of the ninth, with Adelphi playing as the road team as the result of a coin toss, Nicole Camera doubled down the left field line to open up a five-run inning for the Panthers that won them the game.

Game 2 vs. Pace
In a rematch of last weekend's Northeast-10 Conference semifinals, which Pace won 5-2, it was the Panthers who rebounded and scored their fourth win in five games against the Setters in 2016. After Lindsay Mapes and Kaitlynn Nelson each worked out of small jams in the first two innings, the Panthers who broke through first in the bottom of the third. After Christina Palmenteri and Krista King singled and Nicoletta Cuccio was hit by a pitch, Martini strided to the plate with nobody out looking to give Adelphi the lead.

After fouling the first pitch off, Martini adjusted on her next swing and launched the ball over the fence in left center field to give herself four RBIs on one swing. With the grand slam, Martini set a new single-season record for RBIs, as she was tied with current assistant coach Victoria Wink ('15) with 57 coming into Thursday's play.

From there, Mapes shut the Setters down, as she didn't allow a Setter to reach scoring position in the remaining four innings. The Panthers added a pair of insurance runs for her anyway in the fifth, as King led off with a triple and Cuccio drove her in with a single to make it a 5-0 game. From there, Cuccio stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error, and was duly driven in by Camera's sacrifice fly.  

Game 3 vs. Molloy
After Molloy defeated #2 LIU Post, 3-0, in the first game of the day, the Lions took on the Panthers with a bid to Saturday's regional final on the line. This time, the game couldn't have been more different, as Mapes and the Lions' duo of Chelsea Hawks and Tracey Balinskas combined to silence the offense on the opposite side. The two teams combined for just four hits in seven regulation innings, as Molloy got just one runner in scoring position in the second.

The best chance for Adelphi in regulation came in the sixth, as the Panthers loaded the bases with a single from King and two walks to Cuccio and Martini. However, Balinskas won a battle with Camera and induced the flyout to right to end the threat and keep Adelphi off the board.

Molloy was looking to win the game in the bottom of the eighth, as a two-out double from Balinskas and a single from Botte put runners at the corners. From there, however, Stephanie Staiano made the play of the game, saving the day for the Panthers -- as Dalton stroked a line drive to right field which was sinking fast and would've given the Lions the walkoff win, Staiano laid out and made a diving catch in right to keep the game going.

Adelphi duly responded in the ninth, as Cuccio doubled down the left field line and Martini walked to set the stage for Camera. After failing to deliver in her last at bat, the sophomore was not to be denied this time, as she rifled a double down the left field line to break the ice and score two. After Megan Lewis walked, Staiano came through again with a bunt single, and a throwing error by the Lions' catcher scored Camera and put Lewis on third. Pinch-hitter Lauren Sandelier then came through with a sacrifice fly, and Palmenteri singled to right to score Staiano and cap the five-run inning. Despite allowing a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth, Mapes responded to retire the next three hitters to send Adelphi into the weekend.

The Panthers will now wait to see who they will face, as double-elimination play between Pace, Molloy and LIU Post continues over the next two days.

NOTES
- Martini also hit a grand slam in NCAA play a season ago -- to send the Panthers to the Women's College World Series.

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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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