Florence, S.C. - A seventh-inning surge completed a stellar 3-1 opening weekend for the No. 9 Adelphi University softball team Sunday at the Patriot Invitational, hosted by Francis Marion University, in Florence.

Game 1: #9 Adelphi 1, Francis Marion 2
As the tablesetter atop the Adelphi lineup, Ziara Shreter stirred up a two-out rally in a scoreless game in the third.

Once Shreter took her first offering to center field to reach base, Shreter subsequently stole second to move into scoring position and raced home on an RBI double by Courtney Wengryn.

Coming off her Opening Day gem, Lindsey Hibbs tacked on another nine strikeouts to yesterday's career-high of 15. Her only blemish of the weekend was a game-tying homer by Danielle Karacson in FMU's half of the third.

The third inning was Adelphi's only damage off Francis Marion pitcher Jenna Walling, who improved to 6-0 and retired the last thirteen to face her.

Almost another extra-inning affair, Francis Marion walked it off in the seventh with an RBI single off of sophomore reliever Brianna Pearson.

Game 2: #9 Adelphi 6, #17 Kutztown 2
The Panthers trailed Kutztown 2-1 with six outs to play, but some stunning glovework by Amanda Owens made a comeback all the more possible.

First, in the third inning, Owens came up with a diving backhanded catch that preserved a 1-0 Adelphi lead at the time. Then, in the fifth, Owens saved a key run on a grounder, although Kutztown had pushed across the go-ahead run.

As the game approached the seventh and Adelphi's final turn at-bat, the Panthers put the first two runners on. In Jordyn Pasqueralli's first recorded career at-bat, the freshman hit a hot shot past the second baseman that gave the Brown and Gold two runners in scoring position with none out.

Kutztown then went to the bullpen, and forced Shreter into an infield groundout, before Wengryn doubled home the tying and go-ahead runs on Sarah Harvey's initial pitch.

Three more Panthers followed with base hits, including another big two-RBI knock this weekend by Kendall Winn.

Tierney Fitzgerald started in the circle and threw 2.1 scoreless, and Claire Fon pitched the final 4.2 innings for the win.

Head Coach Carla Campagna and her Adelphi squad now have a day off, before heading to Pembroke, N.C. for the UNC Pembroke Round Robin on Tuesday (Feb. 21).