Garden City, N.Y. - On a day in which the Panthers celebrated the 25-year anniversary of the 1999 College World Series team, the Adelphi University baseball team came through with a couple of late surges Saturday to steal two games away from Saint Anselm College at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field.

In the penultimate inning of both contests, Adelphi (19-16, 11-8 NE10) exploded for a combined eleven runs to extend its winning streak to six games. The 'Cats have also won eight of their last nine, dating back to last weekend.

Game #1: Adelphi 13, Saint Anselm 6
With four plunked batters and a balk in 2.1 innings, Carlos Acosta's command struggles led to an early 4-1 lead for the Hawks.

The Panthers then got happy with the long ball. A red-hot bat at the moment, Joe Pellegrino -- who is now hitting .411 and trails the current NE10 batting leader by eleven points -- homered on his first offering in the fourth to cut the deficit in half and, an inning later, unloaded for a go-ahead three-run bomb that was only admired as it sailed well over the left-field fence.

In the thick of it all, Michael Robinson, following a perfect top half by Gavin Graff, went deep to right-center in the bottom of the sixth and later tacked on a two-run jack in the eighth, in back-to-back plate appearances.

It was the first four-homer game for Adelphi as a team since last spring, when Pellegrino and former standouts Michael Draskin and Anthony Cipri took Lynn deep four times in a 27-25 victory on Mar. 13, 2023.

Although Acosta left the game with his team trailing, Gavin Graff followed with four sparkling innings of one-run ball to set the table for Adelphi's comeback.

Game #2: Adelphi 7, Saint Anselm 5
Sophomore pitcher Brendan Kenneally also sputtered on the mound, allowing a pair of lead-off home runs in the top of the first and second.

In a seven-inning contest, the Panthers found themselves having to rally from a 5-1 deficit at the midway mark of the contest. Initially, a fifth-inning bases-loaded rally fell short, when Saint Anselm starter Dallas Vaughan struck out Jack Wishner and Robinson in a pinch-hit appearance, keeping the lead at 5-2 for the Hawks.

Vaughan found himself in another tight spot in the bottom of the sixth, and exited following Greyson Pizzonia's RBI double that closed the gap to 5-3.

Now with the tying runs in scoring position, Anthony Rigogliosi lifted a first-pitch sacrifice fly to center, pulling the 'Cats within a run. Needing at least another deep fly ball to tie the score, Alec Maag went down swinging on three pitches, leaving it up to the locked-in Pellegrino.

Ultimately, it wasn't Pellegrino's swing that leveled the game. After getting his first pitch over for a strike, Saint Anselm's Daniel Scolaro balked in the tying run with two outs.

Pellegrino still doubled down the third-base line and eventually accounted for the go-ahead run, on the strength of what was a game-winning opposite-field RBI single by Wishner. A pinch-hit RBI single from Nick Lopez tacked on a key insurance run, with Coleton Reitan awaiting in the bullpen.

Now sitting alone as the conference's No. 2 leader in saves, Reitan allowed a one-out single, but froze pinch-hitter Brenden Harris for the game's final out and his fifth save of 2024.

A six-game homestand for Bill Ianniciello's squad concludes tomorrow (Apr. 21) with a 12 noon doubleheader against Southern New Hampshire University, which received votes in the latest NCBWA Division II Top 25 Poll.