Garden City, N.Y. - A seven-run fifth inning doomed the Adelphi University baseball team in game four of the NCAA Division II East 1 Regional tournament on Friday afternoon, as fourth-seeded Wilmington (Del.) University took a 14-5 victory.
The game saw two ties and three lead changes, as top-seeded Adelphi (34-9-1) led 2-0 after scoring two in the top of the first on a two-run single from Michael Cattani, playing as the designated away team on home turf.
The Brown and Gold later rallied from a 3-2 deficit to take a 5-3 lead in a three-run fifth, keyed by a two-run blast from senior Brett Malm, with its season at stake.
However, a bigger bottom of the fifth for the Wildcats (39-17) saw 11 men come to the plate to score seven runs against three Adelphi pitchers.
Three hits, including a two-run blast from Quintin Ivy, chased Adelphi starter Daniel Taggart, before an error, two walks, two hit batters, a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly against the relief combo of Nicolas Luc and Max Steele led to five more Wildcats crossing home.
Wilmington ultimately added two more in the seventh and two more in the eighth to keep the game out of reach, as Adelphi was unable to create a rally, and stranded just one runner on base in each of the final three frames.
Lucas Terwilliger led the Panthers on the stat sheet, going 3-for-4 with one RBI. Malm, Cattani and Lawrence Cicileo tallied two hits each, combining for four RBIs, while four other batters put up one hit for the Brown and Gold as well.
The game marked the final contest for the Panthers' class of 2019, who led Adelphi to the Southwest Division regular season title and the program's first NCAA Tournament berth in eight years.
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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