Garden City, N.Y. - Looking to complete a season sweep, the Adelphi University baseball team split a doubleheader with Le Moyne College on Sunday at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field in Garden City.
The Panthers, who now stand at 25-10-1 overall and 14-5 in NE10 play, have now taken the season series from four different NE10 Southwest Division opponents.
As it holds a one-game lead in the division, Adelphi will meet Southern Connecticut in a showdown for first place on Wednesday (May 4) at 3:30 p.m. in New Haven, Conn.
Game 1: Adelphi 3, Le Moyne 2
Both starters kept their teams in it, with Adelphi's
Jacob Pedersen and Le Moyne's Joe Vail limiting their opposition to two runs apiece.
A
Michael Draskin sacrifice fly in foul territory plated
Kyle Olson as the tying run in the fifth inning, leveling the score at 2-all.
In a seven-inning contest, the Panthers put themselves in position to walk it off in the bottom of the seventh.
A Draskin hit by pitch and
Alec Maag walk -- both with two outs -- put the winning run in scoring position. Draskin eventually took third on a wild pitch and scored the winning run, after Le Moyne's Drew Fureno's throw to nab Draskin at third went awry.
Andrew Williams,
Steven Murphy and
Jordan Falco combined to throw 3.2 innings of scoreless relief, with Falco earning his second victory of the season.
Game 2: Adelphi 6, Le Moyne 9
Jacob Dannenberg made his first start since his 12-strikeout masterpiece, and the Panthers got their starter out to a 2-0 lead in the first.
Adelphi was unable to hold off a Le Moyne comeback though, as the visiting bats opened the floodgates in the third. The Dolphins got to Dannenberg for six runs, and would expand their lead to 9-3.
A late eighth-inning surge from Adelphi sparked hope, with
Johnny Catuosco driving a triple into the right-center field gap that got the Brown and Gold within striking distance at 9-5.
Matt Alifano kept the rally going with a sacrifice fly to make it a 9-6 game heading into the contest's final inning.
Alex Rende battled to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but -- on a pay-off pitch -- the Adelphi left-fielder popped out in foul territory to end it.
Only five games are left in the regular season for the Panthers. Following Wednesday's scheduled game at SCSU, Adelphi will travel to Albany for a four-game weekend series (May 6-7) at The College of Saint Rose.
