Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University softball team won another key Northeast-10 Conference divisional series on Tuesday afternoon, as Jessica Vadala and her right arm hurled the first complete game of her career en route to the Panthers splitting a pair with the University of New Haven.

Vadala, who had pitched 65.2 innings out of the bullpen for the Panthers (26-19-1, 17-7-1 NE10) this season with an NE10-best five saves, earned her first start of the season and fourth of her career in the rubber game between the two teams to count towards the NE10 divisional race. 

The junior from Garden City Park, N.Y. limited New Haven to two runs (one earned) on five hits with three strikeouts across seven innings in a 5-2 win.

The right-handed hurled seven innings in relief in what proved to be a 12-inning victory over LIU Post in March, but she had not gone the distance in any of her three starts a season ago as a sophomore. 

Vadala and the Panthers did fall behind 2-0 early in game one, as a scratchy top of the third inning which featured a hit batter and a fielder's choice attempt which was ruled safe due to a throwing error, saw New Haven cash in two runs with a two-out single for Marissa Colby.

However, Emily Turney's bases-clearing, one-out double in the bottom of the inning plated three for the Brown and Gold to chase New Haven starter Megan Butts, and gave the home team a lead it would never relinquish. The Panthers added three more in the bottom of the sixth for insurance, as Nicoletta Cuccio delivered a two-run double and later scored on a wild pitch, intentional ball four to Brenna Martini. 

In a wild nightcap which did not have NE10 implications but counts towards both teams' NCAA Division II regional record, the Chargers took an early lead, fell behind in the middle innings, rallied to lead in the fifth and held off an Adelphi comeback to eventually win, 8-7.

The visitors put up a four-spot against Nicole Mengel in the first inning as just one ball off the first five Charger bats left the infield - a two-run triple to left field for Alexandria Cunkle. The Panthers got two back in the bottom of the inning with two outs, as Martini homered and Turney singled to drive in Camera, who had tripled, to halve the deficit, and the Brown and Gold took its first lead with a three-run third, capped as Turney homered down the left field line.

Nonetheless, New Haven put up four runs on five hits - three for extra bases - to take the lead in the fifth to put Butts back on the long side, and Charger reliever Kylie Stonebraker earned her first save of the year over the final two innings. The game proved to be decided on one key at-bat, and Stonebraker and Camera battled for 11 pitches with the bases loaded and two runs already home in the sixth, but New Haven's hurler recorded a strikeout swinging to help preserve the win. 

The Panthers close out the regular season in non-conference action on Friday, as they welcome Molloy College to Janet L. Ficke Field for a 2 p.m. doubleheader in a rematch of last year's NCAA Super Regional. 

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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.

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