West Haven, Conn. - Five no-hit innings from
Nicole Mengel and five shutout frames from
Ally Muller in the circle led the Adelphi University softball team to a sweep of Saint Michael's College at the University of New Haven on Sunday afternoon, 8-0 and 8-2.
Making her first career start in game one, Mengel walked three and struck out three in her 11th game of the season, while the Adelphi bats did the work for their second run-ruled victory in as many days. Adelphi's 1-4 hitters each had two hits in game one, highlighted by back-to-back home runs for
Nicoletta Cuccio and
Brenna Martini in the third inning. Both Cuccio and
Nicole Camera also scored two runs in the victory.
In game two, Camera and
Lauren Sandelier combined for six of the team's eight RBIs on the afternoon, after a 1-0 game for the first three-and-a-half innings became a slugfest between the two teams. Adelphi doubled up Saint Michael's in hits (14-7) in support of Muller, who threw five scoreless before running into trouble in the sixth.
However, she was helped out to her third win of the season by
Jessica Vadala, who entered in a 4-2 game with the tying runs on base in the sixth and struck out Sarah Wight on three pitches. The junior later finished off the game after a four-run sixth, in which Camera and Sandelier each recorded two-RBI hits, gave her a cushion to work with.
Game 1
Camera had a hand in both of Adelphi's first-inning runs to begin the game, as her RBI single drove in
Nicoletta Cuccio with the game's first run. Active on the bases, Camera stole second and advanced to third as the catcher's throw sailed into center field, later scoring on a wild pitch.
With small ball helping Adelphi (9-11-1, 2-0-1 NE10) get on the board, the long ball led to two of their three runs in the third, while an RBI single for the red-hot
Emily Turney opened Adelphi's lead to 5-0. The sophomore first baseman has had at least one hit in 10 of her last 11 games.Â
A pair of sacrifice balls in the air - off the bat of
Lauren O'Neill to left and
Krista King to shortstop caught on the outfield grass - led to two more runs in the fifth, and Adelphi walked off with the run-ruled win on Cuccio's single to right center.
The Purple Knights (4-10, 1-3 NE10) got just one runner into scoring position against Mengel in the game, as the freshman walked two in the third with the lead at 2-0, put induced a popup off the bat of Chandler Wilder to end the threat.
Game 2
Though she too posted five zeros on the board, Muller was forced to work considerably harder for her shutout innings, as the Purple Knights stranded five over the first five innings. Camera, who proved red-hot in game two as she fell a homer short of the cycle, got Adelphi ahead early with a first-pitch single up the middle that scored King.
The 1-0 edge for the Panthers stood until the fourth, after Sandelier came around to score on O'Neill's groundout, following a lead-off single a hit for Turney and a fielding error. The lead again doubled, this time to 4-0, in the bottom of the fifth as Camera and
Christina Rizzi tallied RBIs on a triple and a single, respectively.
Saint Michael's loaded the bases with no one out in the following inning, and Danielle Markowski ripped a two-run double to halve the deficit. However, a key 6-3-2 double play helped get Adelphi out of a jam ahead of Vadala's relief effort, closing the book on Muller's afternoon.
The Panthers plated four runs in the bottom half to pull away, with Camera coming through with a two-run double and Sandelier providing a two-out, two-run single.
Adelphi returns home to Janet L. Ficke Field on Tuesday afternoon, taking on its first Southwest Division foes in NE10 play of the season, the Southern Connecticut State Owls. First pitch of the double dip is slated for 2 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.
