Garden City, N.Y. - A two-homer game from Matt Alifano in the nightcap propelled the Adelphi University baseball team to a split with the College of Saint Rose on Wednesday at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field in Garden City.

The Panthers (9-11, 7-6 NE10) dropped a 7-2 decision in the opener, before rallying from a 4-1 deficit to take the second game, 9-7. The split gave Adelphi the 2021 series win over Saint Rose, 3-1.

Game 1: Adelphi 2, Saint Rose 7
Tommy O'Sullivan ran into some early trouble in the first and second innings, but managed to come away unscathed.

Although he made his return from injury on Saturday, Kyle Olson delivered his first hit since the season opener -- an opposite-field RBI double -- that staked the Panthers to a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

In the third, O'Sullivan put the leadoff runner on for a third-consecutive inning, but -- this time -- he wasn't as fortunate. A Francisco Infante sacrifice fly evened the score.

Adelphi got it back though in the fourth, on Tyler Becker's team-high-tying third roundtripper of 2021. With two outs in the frame, Becker took the payoff pitch out to right.

While Saint Rose (4-11, 4-11 NE10) answered in the fifth and re-tied the game, Michael Storms was one strike away from keeping the score level.

On an 0-2 offering with two outs, Derek Haughey smacked a homer over the right-field fence, which put the Golden Knights ahead for good. He later added a two-RBI double down the first-base line in the seventh to widen the gap to 6-2.

The Panthers loaded the bases in their half of the fifth, effectively putting the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Becker, who homered earlier in the game, hit a soft grounder to first to end the inning.

Game 2: Adelphi 9, Saint Rose 7
Troy Simpson struggled with his command in the early going and Saint Rose capitalized, scoring two runs in its opening turn through the order.

Despite falling into an early 2-0 hole, Adelphi cut the deficit in half in its first turn at-bat, on a Jack Ryan RBI single.

Two innings later, the Panthers trailed 4-1, until a two-run shot to dead center by Alifano put the hosts within a run again at 4-3.

Adelphi nearly had more in the third. Olson was gunned down as the tying run at home on a sacrifice fly, and Brandon Warick was robbed of a game-tying RBI single on a hard lineout to left.

That didn't seem to faze the Adelphi offense. In the fourth, Alifano struck again, as the Panthers sent nine batters to the plate.

This time, an infield single in the 5-6 hole tied the game and a subsequent throwing error on the play scored Jose Matos for the go-ahead run. 

Two batters later, Feliz kept his hot streak going with a two-out RBI single that added a little cushion to the Panther lead at 6-4.

The Alifano show continued into the fifth, where he, after just missing another home run on the third pitch he saw, went deep for a two-run shot on the fourth pitch. Cooper Johnson also homered in the frame, ultimately widening the gap to 9-4.

Max Steele, who earned his first win of 2021 in the decision, settled in after a shaky first inning of relief and retired five of six at one point. Andrew Williams followed him and struck out four in a row. Kevin Glasser cleaned up the final two frames.

The Panthers are back in action this weekend (May 1-2), when they open a four-game weekend series in Springfield, Mass. at NE10 rival American International College. The two teams will play a split nine- and seven-inning doubleheader on both days, starting Saturday at 1 p.m.