Garden City, N.Y. - Following two big offensive games by the visitors, the Adelphi University baseball team dropped the final two games of its four-game set with Pace University on Saturday at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field.
Game 1: Adelphi 3, Pace 9
The Setters got going early, as a trio of singles from Luke Jacobi, Matthew Rinaldi, and Mason Baronian gave the visitors a 3-0 first inning lead.
In the home half of the first, the Panthers put on some initial pressure, following Anthony Cipri and Alec Maag's pair of lead-off singles. With runners on first and second, Michael Draskin then grounded into a double play to halt the building momentum.
After Jacobi and Rinaldi drove in more runs, the road team quickly found themselves with a 7-0 advantage after three innings.
The 'Cats got themselves on the board after Jack Wishner capitalized with a runner in scoring position, hitting a single up the middle to score Kyle Olson in the fifth.
Pace kept the margin mostly intact the rest of the way, never allowing the lead to get smaller than six runs.
Cooper Johnson scored the last two runs for Adelphi, coming home on both Cipri's single in the fifth and Draskin's sacrifice fly in the seventh to cut the deficit to 9-3.
Bobby Molinaro shined in relief for the Panthers, pitching a shutout in the final 2.2 innings on just one hit while collecting three strikeouts.
Game 2: Adelphi 4, Pace 15
It was the 'Cats who struck first in the nightcap, following Olson's single and Joe Pellegrino's sacrifice fly which scored the former in the opening frame for an early 2-0 lead.
The visitors didn't take long to respond, as a run in the following two innings tied the game right back up at two.
In the bottom half of the third, Adelphi re-took the lead after Maag's double drove in Cipri for a 3-2 lead.
The Setters blew the game open in the fourth, putting up five runs, highlighted by Jacobi's two-RBI double.
The home team's best chance to catch up came in the bottom half of the inning. After loading the bases and bringing one in on a sacrifice fly courtesy of Albert Ramos, Cipri hit a deep fly ball to the right field fence that was caught on the track by Pace's Jacobi -- which would've tied the game at 7-all.
The road squad added eight more runs between the sixth and seventh frames to increase the margin to 15-4. Nate Carminucci and Jacobi both finished with three RBI.
Zach Rovner got his first loss of the season after allowing seven earned runs in 3.2 innings.
The Adelphi baseball team will be back in action on Wednesday (Apr. 12), when it travels to take on West Chester University of Pennsylvania in West Chester, Pa. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
