Garden City, N.Y.- The Adelphi University baseball team dropped its season opener to Franklin Pierce University Saturday afternoon on William J. Bonomo Field. The Panthers' nine-run ninth-inning rally fell short, as the team ultimately lost in a 20-17 defeat.

Adelphi (0-1) entered the ninth inning trailing 20-8, when five straight walks issued by Franklin Pierce (4-2) pitching led to two runs.

The comeback didn't end there. Brandon Warick hit a double with the bases loaded to score Dominic Paolo and Dillon Kim, closing the gap to 20-12. Pinch hitter Tim O'Connor doubled to left-center field to plate two more and Vincent Romano singled, advancing O'Connor to third, before Jose Matos laced a double to pull the Panthers within 20-17.

The Brown and Gold would bring the tying run to the plate with two outs, but Robert Affenita III, in a pinch-hit spot, grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.

Adelphi trailed 2-0 from the onset, before pushing through the next two innings to take a 5-2 lead, courtesy of two RBIs apiece from Lawrence Cicileo and Matt Alifano and one by Warick. 

The Panthers closed out the sixth inning trailing 9-8, before letting up 10 unanswered runs by the Ravens over the next two innings. 

Warick led the team with five RBIs, followed by Cicileo, who pushed across three. In his Panther debut, Matt Alifano went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs on the day. 

Junior, Nicholas Luc started on the mound for Adelphi and struck out three batters.

The Panthers return to action tomorrow, March. 1, in a doubleheader against the Ravens, slated for 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. in Garden City.