Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University baseball team came away with a comfortable 16-4 victory in its 2022 NE10 opener against American International College on Friday at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field in Garden City.

The Panthers (9-4, 1-0 NE10) continued to pour it on early during the current nine-game homestand.

Over the last three games, Adelphi has plated eight runs in the first inning and outscored its opposition, 44-12. In fact, the Brown and Gold have scored in the first inning in nine of their first 13 games.

When the Panthers have scored in the first inning this season, Adelphi possesses an 8-1 record against its opposition.

The hosts held a commanding 8-0 advantage through the first three innings of play.

After the first two Panthers reached via an error and a hit batsman in the first, Michael Draskin drove them both in with an RBI double. 

Anthony Cipri, who now has a hit in eight straight games, kept his hot streak going with an RBI double to right that made it 3-0.

The lineup turned over for Adelphi in the second and Matt Alifano appeared to have had a three-run homer. After a meeting of the umpires, the officials reviewed and overturned the call on the field to an RBI double.

It didn't seem to matter, as Kyle Olson -- in the next at-bat -- launched a three-run blast to right that opened the floodgates. It was his first roundtripper since Apr. 6, 2019.

On the hill, John Rizzo was perfect the first time through the order. He let up only two runs across seven innings and struck out a season-high seven batters for his first collegiate win.

Nine different Panthers picked up a hit in the effort, including a four-hit day from Jack Wishner. In the eighth inning, Alex Rende lifted his first collegiate big fly out to right.

The four-game series with AIC resumes Saturday (Mar. 26) with a doubleheader consisting of two seven-inning games. First pitch from William J. Bonomo Memorial Field is set for noon.