Garden City, N.Y. - A pair of single-season strikeout records came crashing down Friday on Senior Day for the No. 14 Adelphi University softball team at Janet L. Ficke Field.
A stamp on a historic season,
Lindsey Hibbs -- following yesterday's career-high outing of 25 strikeouts -- added twelve more strikeouts today to break not just the school's, but also the NE10's single-season strikeout record.
She broke both records in one inning alone. In the third, Hibbs surpassed both former NE10 record-holder Breanne Gleason's (New Haven, 2010) mark of 335 and
Julie Bolduc's 38-year old record of 337 from the 1985 season.
Hibbs stands to be the first pitcher from the NE10 to record 300 or more strikeouts in a season since Le Moyne's Sarah Harrison accomplished the feat in 2012.
"I don't know how to describe it," Hibbs said when reaching the milestone strikeout. "I never thought I could do it, and now that I've done it, I'm just so excited for what the future holds."
"I definitely think it's been my mindset this year," Hibbs added about what has contributed to this season's success. "Last year, I was a sophomore and I was still learning a lot about myself and my mentality as a pitcher. I think what changed this year is that I am trusting myself more and my defense behind me."
"I think Lindsey took the offseason very seriously," said Head Coach
Carla Campagna. "She just goes out there with such confidence. We are so proud of her, and we tell her to continue to be humble and don't worry about the (strikeout) number because it'll come when it's supposed to come."
Game 1: #14 Adelphi 7, Le Moyne 1
Not withstanding Hibbs' record day, the Panthers erased an early Le Moyne lead with a six-run bottom of the first -- highlighted by a
Brianna Fischer grand slam.
Fischer, who has now tied
Courtney Wengryn for the most homers on the team with four, has gone deep twice in her last nine games. After the first three Panthers reached safely to start the inning, Fischer unloaded for her first career grand slam.
The freshman continues to rake out of the No. 5 hole for the Cats, where she went 2-for-3 with a run scored and four RBIs in Game 1.
It was business as usual for Hibbs, who retired twelve in a row at one point and 15 of her last 16 batters. Her line consisted of seven innings with five hits and twelve strikeouts.
Game 2: #14 Adelphi 3, Le Moyne 0
Junior third baseman
Kendall Winn provided the spark in Game 2 to help deliver Adelphi its 20th-consecutive victory.
Flirting with history for much of this season, the Panthers are two wins away from tying the legendary 1984 team (first College World Series appearance) for the program's longest winning streak at 22 games.
In the circle,
Claire Fon and Laura Bennett put up zeroes over the first three innings, but Winn finally broke through in the fourth with a solo homer to left.
With Fon in line to get the win, Adelphi turned to
Tierney Fitzgerald for another save opportunity. Fitzgerald did not disappoint on her Senior Day, facing two over the minimum in three innings to earn her third save of 2023.
As Le Moyne struggled to find offense against the Adelphi pitching staff, Winn tacked on insurance in the sixth with a first-pitch two-RBI double to left-center field.
For the fifth time in program history, the Panthers have achieved 40 or more wins, joining the 1984, 2008, 2013, 2022 and 2023 teams. Adelphi will host the NE10 Championship next week (May 5-7) at Janet L. Ficke Field in Garden City.
