Garden City, N.Y. - After powering out a season-high 16 runs on 14 hits to claim a game one, shutout victory against the visiting Georgian Court Lions on Janet L. Ficke Field on Saturday afternoon, the Adelphi University softball team later earned a split by the end of the day's action after dropping game two, 3-1, for its first loss in five games at home this season.
The regional twinbill was originally scheduled for Wednesday, March 14, but was postponed due to unexpected winter weather on Long Island earlier this week.
Adelphi (5-10) exploded for a season-best 16 runs in the opening game on 14 hits, to run-rule the Lions in a shutout after five innings.
Nicoletta Cuccio and
Emily Turney both hammered their first home runs of the season in back-to-back innings, totaling seven RBIs,
After missing Thursday's double-header vs. LIU Post with injury,
Nicole Camera returned to the starting lineup in game two, going 2-for-4 at the plate but recorded the final out as the winning run, while
Lauren O'Neill went a perfect 3-for-3 in the nine hole of the lineup.
Game 1
After
Kristin Fealy wriggled her way out of a jam in the first, Adelphi set the tone early in the contest with three runs in the opening frame, despite not recording a hit.
Lions starter Taylor Baloga, who stymied the Panthers' bats over seven innings in game two, nonetheless struggled with her command in the first game and walked the first three batters -
Krista King, Cuccio and
Brenna Martini - on 12 pitches before being lifted in favor of Jessica O'Neil.
An attempted force at the plate from a grounder off
Christina Rizzi's bat turned into two runs for the Panthers, as the ball was thrown over the catcher's head to the backstop, and Adelphi led 3-0 after one after tacking another on the board on
Lauren Sandelier's sacrifice fly.
Cuccio's blast went over the left field fence for three more runs in the bottom of the second to score herself,
Elisabeth Berard and King, who reached on singles to left and third base, respectively, earlier in the inning. With Fealy continuing to battle - stranding one on and two on in the second and third - Adelphi kept giving her runs, and scored eight in the bottom of the third to break the game open.
Three singles for Rizzi, Sandelier and
Kailah Konkel loaded the bases ahead of Turney, who launched a 1-0 pitch also over the left field fence for a grand slam and the sophomore's first home run of her collegiate career. The runs kept coming on an RBI triple for O'Neill and an RBI single for King, plus two Lion miscues, before the inning finally ended.
In total, eight runs on seven hits, three errors and a walk in the inning were scored by Adelphi against O'Neil, who gave up 13 runs (10 earned) on all 14 hits. Sandelier later added an RBI single in the fourth to become the third Panther with multiple RBIs in the contest.
Game 2
Baloga and
Ally Muller traded zeros over the first three innings, with Georgian Court's starter looking more settled after her first effort, despite giving up a pair of singles.
Though Muller went perfectly through the Lions' order the first time around, retiring all nine batters, she found trouble in the fourth, as leadoff batter Caitlin Hughes smoked a triple to right center and scored on a line drive off the bat of Samantha Salomon, which was caught by a diving Berard in left field.
Extra bases led to all three of Georgian Court's runs in game two, after being held to just one single in the opener. Another leadoff triple, this one for Malia Black in the sixth, led to the Lions' second run, before Samantha Reilly doubled to left center to score Black and put the Lions ahead 3-0.
After leaving runners on in four of the first five innings, and being unable to score with runners at the corners and one out in the fifth, Adelphi again stranded a pair in the sixth with Martini and Camera both in scoring position and one out. Down to their last at bats, the Panthers finally broke through against Baloga in the bottom of the seventh.
Two infield singles from O'Neill and King led to Adelphi's first run with two outs when Martini doubled to right to score O'Neill to put the tying run at second at Camera as the winning run at the plate. Though she made good contact, Camera stroked a 2-2 pitch on the ground to second base and end Adelphi's hopes for a second walk-off in three days.
The Panthers have a quick turnaround in regional play as they'll hit the road for a non-conference doubleheader against fellow 2017 NCAA Tournament qualifier Wilmington University in Delaware on Sunday, The first pitch of the double-dip is slated for 12 p.m.
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.
