Garden City, N.Y. - A pair of big innings doomed the Adelphi University softball team in its first game of NCAA Division II East Regional action on Thursday afternoon, as the eighth-seeded Caldwell Cougars pounded out 13 runs on 14 hits in a 13-6 victory.
Though top-seeded Adelphi led 2-0 thanks to a two-run double from
Emily Turney in the bottom of the first inning, an eight-run frame for the Central Collegiate Athletic Conference (CACC) champions in the top of the second, and three more in the top of the third, helped the visiting squad move into the winners' bracket.
Nicole Mengel managed just 1.1 innings for the hosts, as she surrendered six runs on five hits with a walk and a strikeout, after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the opening inning in a harbinger of things to come.
Caldwell (35-16) homered twice in the victory, as a three-run blast for Carly Testa capped the eight-run inning in the second, while Anyssia Ramirez added a solo shot in the third against
Ally Muller.
Four hitters in the Cougars' lineup had at least two hits against Adelphi pitching, as Testa drove in four and Maya Rodriguez also drove in four, thanks in part to a bases-clearing double in the second.
For the Panthers,
Krista King went 2-for-4 in the leadoff spot with an RBI, while
Christina Rizzi and
Lauren Sandelier also drove in runs for Adelphi in a four-run third inning which cut the deficit to 11-6 at the time.
Adelphi (30-20-1) nonetheless remains alive in its bid to win a regional title, and will take on the loser of Thursday's second game between fourth-seeded LIU Post and fifth-seeded Le Moyne, with the loser of that game being eliminated from competition.
About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past eight seasons, has collected 27 regular season conference titles, 29 tournament championships, 41Â 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.
