Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University softball team got on the winning track for the first time in 2018 on Sunday afternoon, sweeping the NYIT Bears by two identical 8-0 decisions in a non-conference doubleheader.
Brenna Martini and
Nicole Camera provided the keynote for Adelphi (2-9) in game one, as the senior duo struck for back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning for four combined RBIs, while
Nicoletta Cuccio and
Krista King also drove in two in the effort.
In game two, sophomore
Christina Rizzi drove in three behind a 2-for-2 afternoon with a walk and a run scored, while freshman hurler
Ally Muller recorded her first collegiate win behind four no-hit innings.
Game 1
Kristin Fealy worked around two singles in the opening inning, and allowed just two more hits across her afternoon from that point to keep the Bears at bay.
Adelphi would not break through against Sofia Evangelista until the third inning, however, as the Panthers played small ball to help push a run across.
Lauren O'Neill reached on a one-out single before King legged out an infield single to third, and the freshman outfielder took the extra base on a throw in the dirt to plant herself at third base.
Cuccio duly drove her in with a sacrifice fly to right field to put Adelphi ahead for the first time, but the game remained a one-run clash until the bottom of the fifth. NYIT had its chances, stranding two on against Fealy in the fourth before loading the bases against
Jessica Vadala in the fifth, but the latter induced a big double play off the bat of Brooke Scherer to keep the Brown and Gold ahead, 1-0.
The Panthers' senior third and fourth hitters made the magic happen with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, as King singled and Cuccio walked to set the table in front of them. On a 2-2 count, Martini stroked a long ball to straight away center field for her second home run of her final season, before Camera went deep to exactly the same spot on the first pitch of her ensuing at bat.
That chased Evangelista from the game, and Adelphi added three more runs against Sophia Medina on four straight singles and an error in the bottom of the sixth.
Game 2
Adelphi wasted no time in game two thanks to a four-run first inning, taking advantage of three Bear errors in the field along the way. King reached to open the game on a misplayed ground ball by NYIT shortstop Lizul Portugal, before a bunt single by Cuccio and a walk to Martini filled the bases with Panthers. In the next at bat, Camera stroked a fly ball to right field which was dropped, allowing King to score, though NYIT earned the force out on Martini at second base for the first out of the game.
Later in the inning, Rizzi cashed in a pair with a roped double down the right field line, and took the extra base as the left fielder misplayed the ball on the ground. She came around to score on a short single by
Lauren Sandelier to center field, and the Panthers never looked back from there.
Emily Turney later drove in a run in the third inning and scored on a passed ball, before the Panthers put the game to bed thanks to an RBI triple for Camera and a first-pitch single for Rizzi in the fourth.
NYIT had a chance to keep the game going by loading the bases in the top of the fifth against
Jessica Vadala on a pair of walks and the first hit of the contest by the Bears, but the junior right-hander induced a line out from Portugal and a ground out from Scherer to secure the run-ruled win.
Muller worked around three walks in her four innings of work to pick up her first win of the season, striking out three. Vadala worked two scoreless innings out of the bullpen combined across the double-header, allowing two hits and no runs.
The Panthers will have 10 days off before their next contests, when they welcome the Georgian Court Lions to Janet L. Ficke Field for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday, March 14.
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.
