Garden City, N.Y. - A seven-run second inning put the Adelphi University baseball team in a rut it could not escape, in an 8-5 loss to NE10 rival University of New Haven Friday afternoon at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field.

With two games still left to go in the series, the Panthers (20-19) and Chargers (20-20) are now tied with the same record in the conference standings at 12-10.

Coming off a tough outing last weekend at home, Carlos Acosta didn't fair much better again after being tapped for the opening game of the series.

An ERA that once stood at 2.92 back in March has now ballooned to 5.77, as Acosta allowed five runs on three hits with two walks in only 1.1 innings of work.

Heading back to the hill following a clean first, Acosta served up a game-tying lead-off homer to Cole Maucere, and the inning unraveled from there. A subsequent walk and hit by pitch led to a go-ahead two-run double by Aedan Forde, leading to Bill Ianniciello yanking his starter following a short stint.

A surge in the seventh nearly brought the 'Cats all the way back. All with two outs, the Adelphi hitters got ahead in the count against UNH starter Liam Carroll and sent six batters to the plate.

It was the bottom the Adelphi order that first produced. Erick Duignan first singled in Jack Wishner with an RBI single. With the lineup turning over, Anthony Rigogliosi dropped a ball into left-center to plate a pair. Then, as the team's leading home run hitter stepped into the box, Joe Pellegrino lifted a fly ball to left center that UNH left-fielder Owen Pincince squeezed to neutralize the threat.

With the lead-off runner on in the eighth in a three-run game, Wishner hit a sharp ball up the middle that New Haven managed to roll up a double play on, thwarting another potential Adelphi comeback.

The three-game series between Adelphi and New Haven continues tomorrow from William J. Bonomo Memorial Field at 12 p.m. The Senior Day celebration will commence an hour earlier at 11 a.m. All festivities will be carried live on NE10NOW.tv.