Well, this wasn’t supposed to happen.
Hours after getting ranked as the No. 6 Division-II in the nation, Adelphi dropped their first round NE-10 conference tournament game, 9-6, against Southern Connecticut who entered the game with a record of 19-26. Additionally, Adelphi was hosting the tournament and is slated to host the NCAA East Regional next week.
They sent Ed Baram (7-1, 0.58 ERA) to the mound but it was not his day. He allowed two HRs in the second inning. Mike DeMartino got it going with a two-run shot to right and Nolan Cloutier followed with one to left to make it 3-0.
The game was far from over, though.
The Panthers got on the board in the home half of the third on a bases loaded walk to Brandon Warick to score Mike Cattani.
In the top of the fourth, Baram ran into trouble against as Tyler Criscuolo’s RBI single extended the lead to 4-1.
A throwing error by the third baseman allowed Brett Malm to score to cut the deficit to 4-2 which set the stage for Mike Cattani‘s RBI single to make it 4-3. The Panthers’ bats went back to work in the fourth inning and tied it up on Thomas Colombo‘s RBI groundout and took the lead on Lawrence Cicileo‘s RBI single to score Jonathan Iadevaia.
Tyler Criscuolo struck again with a solo home run in the sixth inning to tie the game back up, 5-5.
In the top of the seventh, Mark Novello entered for Baram and the Owls used some old fashioned small ball to take the lead. A leadoff single, stolen base, sacrifice bunt, walk, stolen base put runners on second and third with one out. Novello struck out Criscuolo looking to put himself on the verge of escaping the jam but an intentional walk followed by a bases loaded walk drove in the go-ahead run. Coach Scala summoned his record-breaking closer Tom Ambrosino to come in for the eighth inning–something he has admitted he tries to avoid.
In the top of the ninth, a two-run double by Mac Finnegan opened up an 8-6 lead which was extended to 9-6 on an RBI single by John Spoto.
The Panthers, facing elimination, got a two-out single by Lucas Terwilliger but were sent down quietly.
The silver lining was senior Brett Malm notching both his 200th career hit and his program record for single-season doubles with 24.
It was a shocking result, as the Panthers had entered with the best winning percentage in the nation, had their ace on the mound at home–where the team was 14-0 and were set to host the Regionals. That’s the danger of a single-elimination format. They will now wait until Sunday night for the NCAA Division-II selection show to see their fate.
