Garden City, N.Y. - On an afternoon in which their wielders were honored with their Senior Day ceremony, the bats of
Krista King,
Brenna Martini and
Nicole Camera helped the Adelphi University softball team earn a split of Saturday's action and take three of the four games against the College of Saint Rose this weekend.
The senior trio, who each had her career celebrated with a ceremony in between games on Saturday, went a combined 5-for-11 with three RBIs and three runs scored for the Panthers (20-16-1, NE10) to earn a 10-6 win in Saturday's second game to secure their third victory in the series.
Earlier, Adelphi was unable to hang on to a 2-1 lead late in game one, and Saint Rose (11-15, 6-5 NE10) put up four runs in the top of the ninth inning in extras to take a 6-2 win.
The Golden Knights looked to earn a split of the four games and a sweep of Saturday's action, as they rode the momentum of an extra-inning first game victory to a 3-0 lead in the opening frame of game two against
Ally Muller.
The freshman uncorked two wild pitches in the inning, including one on a third strike, which led to the first two runs before Erin Maloney's triple gave the visitors their third tally, but the Adelphi bats quickly went to work to bail her out in the bottom of the inning. After
Nicoletta Cuccio worked a one-out walk, Martini and Camera each singled, with the latter's driving in Adelphi's first run of the game, and two more singles, a walk and a hit batter led to three more Adelphi runs.
In total, the Panthers put up a five-spot in the first inning, as
Lauren O'Neill's RBI groundout brought home another, but the Brown and Gold would need another crooked number to help secure the win. Liz D'Agostino's two-run double tied proceedings at 5-5 in the top of the third inning, but Adelphi quickly hit back for four in the bottom of the frame and were never tied again.
Martini's two-run double down the left field line provided insurance, after O'Neill's RBI single gave the Panthers the lead back and Cuccio's bunt single added the seventh AU run. Rizzi's RBI double in the fourth capped the Panther scoring, while
Jessica Vadala rebounded after taking the loss in game one with three innings of one-run ball in relief.
Just as they were on Friday, the Panthers were no-hit in the first three innings of game one by Thalia Santiago, but Martini's fourth-inning homer was the Panthers' first hit and tied the game at 1-1. The Brown and Gold took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on
Emily Turney's sacrifice fly, but the Golden Knights put together a two-out rally against Vadala in the seventh before winning it in the ninth.
Ryane Brush was nearly stranded after a leadoff double, but with two outs and two strikes, Briana Bowen snuck an RBI single into left field to tie the game, and the Saint Rose shortstop's three-run double in the ninth and five RBIs in the game helped earn her team the win.
The Panthers are back in action on Tuesday afternoon at home, when they face the Pace University Setters in a key Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division doubleheader beginning at 3 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
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