Garden City, N.Y. - In a wild home opener, the Adelphi University baseball team walked off a second-consecutive win, shocking No. 13 Molloy University by an 8-7 final Friday afternoon at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field in Garden City.

Now winners of four straight, the Panthers (4-2) entered the bottom of the ninth trailing by three runs at 7-4.

As the heart of the Adelphi order came up, Alex Rende, Philip D'Aguanno and Alec Maag all singled in succession to load the bases. bringing the winning run to the plate.

With Sean Welsh on in a tight spot to shut the door for Molloy, Albert Ramos first worked an unintentional four-pitch walk to get the 'Cats within 7-5. Jack Wishner then took his turn and lined an opposite-field RBI single into right, before Jose Matos lifted an unconventional sacrifice fly to win the game.

As the wind carried all afternoon in Garden City, Matos' deep fly caused Molloy centerfielder Joe Burriesci to fall upon making the catch, allowing Ramos to chug all the way around from second to score the winning run.

It was Adelphi's second comeback of the day. The Panthers first trailed 3-1 through five innings, until Wishner's two-run double in the sixth and Greyson Pizzonia's go-ahead run in the seventh had the 'Cats leading 4-3.

Steven Proko was masterful on the hill yet again, dialing up seven strikeouts across 6.1 innings of relief. John Carver saw only seven batters in the first inning and walked five, before Proko came on.

In his second outing of 2024, Gavin Graff worked a scoreless top of the ninth, tallying two strikeouts for what turned out as his second career victory.

Head Coach Bill Ianniciello and his Adelphi squad will resume their three-game series with Molloy on Sunday (Mar. 3), with an 11 a.m. doubleheader at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field in Garden City.