Garden City, N.Y. -- With base runners in seven of eight innings, the Adelphi University baseball team slugged its way to a 16-2 win over the Golden Knights of the College of Saint Rose on Friday afternoon in the first of three games this weekend.

A two-run homer off the bat of Brandon Morse started the scoring for Adelphi (17-14, 7-6 NE10) in the fourth, but the Panthers claimed the lead for good on a balk in the bottom of the fifth which plated Zack Levinson from third. 

The Adelphi bats exploded from there, scoring four in the sixth, three in the seventh in six in the eighth to cap the rout, as Tyler Warshefskie drove in three, Michael Cattani homers and Withers stroked a bases-clearing double in the eighth for three RBIs.

Matthew O'Connor went a career-best 8.1 innings for Adelphi on the hill, striking out five and allowing just two runs on a Andrew Pedone two-run double in the fifth. After O'Connor departed with one out in the ninth, Andrew Sesto finished off the game in relief as Adelphi got its first win of the weekend series.

The two teams are back in action on Saturday in a double-header, with first pitch slated for 12 pm.

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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 21 regular season conference titles, 25 tournament championships, 33 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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