Riverside, Calif. -- In what was a high-quality evening of softball on the campus of California Batist University, the Adelphi University softball team dropped a pair of hard-fought games, 1-0 and 2-1 in nine innings on Tuesday night.

Brenna Martini cracked her first home run of the season for Adelphi (1-3) in game two, accounting for the Panthers' only run of the double-header, to tie the game at 1-1 in the sixth in a game that eventually went extra innings. Martini went 3-6 across the two games with a walk and a run scored, Lindsay Mapes and Kristin Fealy both pitched well in defeat, with Mapes scattered five hits and four strikeouts across six innings in the opener, and Fealy holding her own against the Lancers' dealing Kellye Springstead, who struck out 12 in nine innings.

Game 1
The first game came down to just one hit, as Hannah Thieroff hit a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth off Mapes for the game's only run. The sophomore led the inning off with the home run, turning on a pitch and sending it over the fence at left, taking advantage of the scoreless tie after Adelphi had stranded runners in three of the previous four innings.

Adelphi had its best chance to score first in the second inning, as Nicoletta Cuccio and Stephanie Staiano both reached on Lancer errors with one out, before Staiano swiped second to put two runners in scoring position with two down. Nonetheless, Ashley Coleman was up to the task, striking out Megan Lewis swinging to end the Panther threat.

The Brown and Gold again put two runners on in the sixth, as Martini walked to lead off and Nicole Camera singled to put runners at the corners. Adelphi was unable to get the ball out of the infield in the next three batters, as Martini was forced out at home for the second out, the Panthers were turned aside by Coleman again. Danielle Cutuli led off the seventh with a single and swiped second for Adelphi's last stand, but was stranded there by the next three hitters. 

Game 2
The Lancers got on the board first, once again in the fifth, as Deanna Alarcon singled through the left side to spark a rally with two outs against Fealy. Krista Mann then stepped up to the plate and blasted a hit deep in the gap at right center. Alarcon rounded third to touch home for the game's first run, but the Panthers caught Mann at third to end the inning.
 
However, Martini's blast was perfectly timed in the next half inning, as she smacked the ball over the fence to dead center to tie the game at 1-1, before she spearheaded a defensive play that sent the game to extras an inning later. With two down and runners on first and third, Martini fielded a grounder and tagged the runner for the first out, before tossing to Camera at second for the force for two -- and two turned to three as a heads up tag by Fallon McCarthy caught the runner at first for the triple play.
 
In the top of the eighth, with Elisabeth Berard and Brenna Martini on the bases with two down, Brittany Galvez made a clutch leaping catch on Camera's line drive in the infield to save a run, end the inning and keep the game tied at 1-1. Galvez would carried that momentum into her turn at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, driving in the game's winning run to give the Lancers the sweep. After the Panthers grabbed two outs, Alley Johnson kept the inning going with a hard-hit single up the middle. Galvez followed with a double into the gap between shortstop and second base to send Johnson home for the game-winning run.

The Panthers are back in action on Wednesday with a double-header against the Concordia Irvine Eagles, beginning at 1 pm PST (4 pm EST).

NOTES
- Martini's 24 career home runs rank her second in Panther history.

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About Adelphi Athletics:
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past seven seasons, has collected 20 regular season conference titles, 24 tournament championships, 29 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup three times (2013, 2014, and 2016), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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