Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University baseball team overcame a 7-0 deficit to stun the University of Bridgeport, 10-9, after 11 innings of play in non-league action on Tuesday afternoon.
After six-and-a-half frames of scoreless baseball, senior captain Steven Withers ripped an RBI single to left field to score Lawrence Cicileo, allowing the Panthers to walk-off with the win and capping a nearly four-hour afternoon on William J. Bonomo Memorial Field in cold and windy temperatures.
Withers drove in three at the top spot in the Adelphi lineup, going 2-for-6 with a run scored, while Cicileo, Jack Ryan and Tyler Warshefskie combined to go 8-for-16 with five RBIs and four runs scored.
In a game in which Josh Rovner earned his first career start, but did not make it out of the opening inning, Mark Novello claimed his first career victory as the last of sixth relievers for Adelphi (14-11-1).
Bridgeport (4-25) got off to a hot start against the hosts, scoring seven of its nine runs in the first inning, beginning with an RBI single which was rifled off the foot of Rovner by Ben Torres. The freshman lasted just four more batters before head coach Dom Scala made the call to the bullpen, and by the close of the first half-inning, the Purple Knights scored seven runs on eight hits, while also stranding three runners on the basepaths to sprint out to a 7-0 lead.
The Panthers responded in the bottom half, when a sacrifice fly from the bat of Brett Malm drove home Withers for Adelphi's first run of the game, and the Brown and Gold chipped away from there. With Robert Sciarrotta and Nicolas Luc trading off on the mound, Bridgeport was held scoreless until the fourth inning.
Adelphi cut the visitors' lead to just three at 7-4 in the second inning, adding three more runs to its side of the board as Brandon Morse and Michael Cattani were driven home off the bat of Jack Ryan and Withers, respectively. Ryan slammed a double down the right field line and Withers grounded out to the shortstop to make the score 7-3. Immediately after, Tyler Becker doubled to right center to tally another run for the Panthers.
The following inning, Adelphi continued to cut into Bridegport's lead off an RBI single from Lawrence Cicileo and a bases-loaded walk to Withers in his next at-bat.
Despite letting up two more runs in the top of the fourth, the Brown and Gold tied the visitors for the first time after falling behind, 9-6. The home team responded in its half when Warshefskie laced a single through the left side to drive home Malm. Shortly after, Ryan continued his streak, roping an RBI single which put the Panthers down by one and making the Purple Knights pay for a pair of lead-off walks.
The tying run for Adelphi scored from a groundout to the third baseman by Cicileo, which brought around Warshefskie. Both teams went scoreless for the duration of nine innings before heroics ensued for the Panthers in the eleventh.
With two outs and nobody on, Cicileo worked a walk and scampered into scoring position on a wild pitch, before Withers secured the victory for Adelphi in walk-off fashion, slamming a single on a 3-2 count to left center to bring him home.
Adelphi returns to the diamond tomorrow in a Northeast-10 divisional contest with Pace University. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:30 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 26 regular season conference titles, 28 tournament championships, 37 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.
