West Haven, Conn. - Five scoreless innings from Jessica Vadala out of the bullpen helped the Adelphi University softball team salvage a season series split with the University of New Haven on Tuesday afternoon.

The graduate student hurled five innings of scoreless relief in game two, while freshman Emily Whitman knocked in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning to give Adelphi (25-17, 16-6 NE10) a 3-2 victory in the nightcap after it dropped the opener to the Chargers (28-13, 23-6 NE10), 3-1. 

It was a pair of well-pitched games for both teams, with importance for the Northeast-10 Conference's Southwest Division playoff picture. With the two teams splitting a doubleheader at Adelphi on April 17, the winner of Tuesday's first game would be assured of winning the season series, counting towards the NE10 standings. 

The Chargers jumped out to a 1-0 lead against Ally Muller in the bottom og the first inning, snapping the sophomore's scoreless streak at 33.0 scoreless innings, as Sierra Whitlock stroked a leadoff single, stole second and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Taylor Luzzi.

New Haven plated two more in the bottom of the fourth, and Adelphi was unable to push a run across until its final at-bats in the seventh. Stranding six across the first six innings, Adelphi put together a late rally, and finally scored against Ava Fitzmaurice on a two-out, RBI single by Emily Turney, but could get no closer.

Adelphi was nonetheless the one to jump out early in game two, thanks to Hannah Pineda's two-run double in the first inning, but Whitlock and Luzzi were again in the middle of things for the Chargers to tie things up in the third. Four straight singles against Nicole Mengel, with RBIs coming from the two aforementioned Chargers, tied the game at 2-2 and chased Mengel, giving way to Vadala.

With two on and nobody out, Vadala put out the fire and kept the Chargers off the board for not just the remainder of the third inning, but for the rest of the game. 

Adelphi is back in action on Wednesday at home, as it attempts to finish off a series with American International College in a doubleheader that has been postponed twice due to rain. First pitch from Janet L. Ficke Field is set for 2:30 p.m. 

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About Adelphi Athletics
A regionally and nationally competitive NCAA Division II institution located in Garden City, N.Y., Adelphi University has been a proud member of the Northeast-10 Conference since 2009.

Winners of 16 NCAA Division II National Championships and four NE10 Presidents' Cups, Panther athletes have excelled at the conference, regional and national level, both on the field of play and in the classroom. In turn, the Adelphi athletic department is committed to fostering an environment of diversity, inclusion, equity and success where its student-athletes can thrive both on campus and off.

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