West Palm Beach, Fla. - The Adelphi University softball team ended its season-opening Florida swing by being swept at the hands of the 18th-ranked Sailfish of Palm Beach Atlantic University on Saturday. After falling in Friday night's single game 11-5, the Panthers dropped two contests by 8-0 and 8-2 decisions to fall in all three games of the series.
Game 1 - PBA 8, Adelphi 0
Adelphi (0-9) was held to just three hits across six innings by Sailfish starter Abbey Busby, who struck out six over the course of her afternoon. On offense, the Sailfish scored against each of the Panthers' three pitchers in the game, and took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Michaels Hynes drove in Magnolia West, who led off the inning against
Kristin Fealy with a triple, with a two-out RBI single.
The Sailfish later added a run in the third and fourth against
Jessica Vadala, while in between, the Panthers' best chance to create a run came in the game.
Nicoletta Cuccio led the fourth inning off with a bunt single, Adelphi's first hit of the game, but was erased on a pop-fly double play off the bat of
Brenna Martini. Later in the inning,
Nicole Camera legged out an infield single, but she too was unable to reach scoring position before the inning came to an end.
Three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth put the game out of reach for Adelphi, as the Sailfish stroked five hits and drew three walks against
Nicole Mengel in 1.1 innings of work.
Game 2 - PBA 8, Adelphi 2
The Brown and Gold took its first least of the series to open up game two, as a leadoff single for
Krista King and one each for Martini and Camera loaded the bases with one out in the first frame. Though
Christina Rizzi's liner to center was caught, it was enough to bring King around home plate, and another solid single for
Lauren Sandelier scored Martini to give Adelphi a 2-0 lead before the home team came to bat.
However, Palm Beach Atlantic (10-2) restored order in the third with a four-run frame against
Ally Muller and never trailed again. Two infield singles, a sacrifice fly and a stolen base got PBA on the board and put the tying run in scoring position, which was duly driven in on an RBI single from Hannah Carlton.
The deciding blow in the inning, however, came off the bat of Hynes, who slugged a two-run homer to left to put the home team in the lead for good. A three-run triple for Claudia Pizzarelli added some insurance for the Sailfish in the fifth, and Busby came out of the bullpen to throw two innings of one-hit softball to quiet the Panther bats.
Cuccio, Martini, Camera and
Lauren O'Neill each had a pair of hits for Adelphi in the setback as the Panthers left a total of 10 runners on base. The Panthers were unable to take advantage of a bases loaded opportunity in the third with a 2-0 lead, and later let another slip when trailing 5-2. in the fifth. In that inning, Camera reached on an error and Rizzi doubled to put two in scoring position with nobody out, but neither Panthers came around home plate.
The Panthers will have over a week off until they next return to action, when they take on NYIT in a regional double-header on Janet L. Ficke Field on March 4.
About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past eight seasons, has collected 25 regular season conference titles, 26 tournament championships, 33 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup four times (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), while winning six 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.
