Garden City, N.Y. - For already the second time this year, the Adelphi University baseball team came from behind at home, capturing an 8-4 win over NE10 Southwest DIvision rival Pace University on Saturday at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field.
With both teams prevailing on their home fields in the first two games of the series, Adelphi (7-7, 1-1 NE10) and Pace (7-5, 1-1 NE10) will meet Sunday in Pleasantville for the rubber game of the series on St. Patrick's Day.
The 'Cats initially struggled to drive in runners from scoring position, while Pace comfortably eased out to a 3-0 advantage in the top of the second.
Adelphi worked long at-bats against Pace pitching all afternoon, especially
Alex Rende -- who fought off six pitches in the first in an 11-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk. Rende legged out a lead-off triple in the third and scored the team's first run, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
An inning later,
Joe Pellegrino -- after being plunked a second time by Pace starter Dan Brown -- came around on an RBI double by
Jose Matos that got the Brown and Gold within a run.
Out of the No. 8 hole, Matos was a spectacular 3-for-4 on the day. His lead-off double in the seventh set the table for what put the 'Cats ahead. With the infield drawn in and Matos standing ninety feet away,
Anthony Rigogliosi delivered the game-tying RBI single.
Rende, who scored three runs and went 2-for-3 at the plate, laid down a perfect bunt that -- along with an errant throw -- moved the two runners into scoring position. It was
Albert Ramos' sacrifice fly that gave the hosts the lead, before
Jack Wishner's .400 batting average with runners in scoring position gave way to a two-out RBI single that stretched Adelphi's lead to 5-3.
The bullpen ran into trouble late, but
Gavin Graff froze Pace's Luke Rivara with the bases loaded in a one-run game and retired the side in order in the ninth to collect his first career save.
After coming on as a defensive substitution at first base in the top of the eighth,
Justin Wilkinson stepped into a key spot in lieu of the bat of
Alec Maag in the bottom half. With two runners on, and the 'Cats clinging to a 6-4 advantage, Wilkinson pushed a two-RBI single through the right side on a well-executed hit-and-run.
Senior pitcher
Carlos Acosta put forth another quality start despite earning a no-decision. The southpaw overcame a three-run second to strike out six Setters over 6.0 innings.
Jacob Dannenberg got his first win in two years with 1.1 innings of solid relief.
Head Coach
Bill Ianniciello and his Adelphi squad wrap up their three-game regular-season series with Pace tomorrow (Mar. 17) in Pleasantville at 12 p.m.
