ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose won the opener 4-3 thanks to a bases loaded walk in the ninth, but dropped the “non-league” finale 6-1 to Northeast-10 Conference rival Adelphi today at Bob Bellizzi Field at the Plumeri Sports Complex. The Panthers had won nine of their previous 10 games entering the afternoon.

The Golden Knights (11-15/5-8 NE-10) took a 3-0 lead in the first, but Adelphi (20-9-1/9-4 NE-10) scored twice in the seventh and tied it in the top half of the ninth to set the stage for the finish.

Senior right fielder Garret Keenan lined a shot off the Adelphi pitcher to load the bases in the home half of the ninth. Two batters later, freshman left fielder Nikko Wahl worked the count to 3-1 and then held off on the next pitch that allowed junior shortstop Jesse Burba to touch home plate with the winning run.

The Golden Knights pounced early with four hits in the opening frame. Sophomore left fielder Caleb Gleason laced a two out double to the gap in left-center that made it a 2-0 ballgame and then sophomore third baseman Carlos Fermin singled through the left side to drive in another run.

The two teams swapped zeroes until the seventh when senior right fielder Omar Velazquez hit a two RBI double to center to get Adelphi to within a run. In the ninth, junior designated hitter Justin Farnum tied the game with a bases loaded ground out.

Keenan finished 3-for-5, while Gleason and junior first baseman Daniel Marshall had two hits each to lead the Golden Knights offense. Junior right-hander Nick Polsinelli scattered four hits throughout 6.0 innings of work, before sophomore left-hander Tom Buckley continued to impress out of the bullpen. Buckley tossed 1.2 innings of no-hit ball to lower his ERA to 0.84 throughout five appearances on the season. Velazquez had three hits to pace the Adelphi attack.

In the second game, the Panthers blew open a 1-0 affair by sending nine batters to the plate in a five-run, fourth inning. Junior first baseman Jamie Liebowitz stroked a three-run homer over the right field fence to account for most of the damage.

Saint Rose got one on the board in the fifth when sophomore catcher #A.J. Capone# led off with a double to right-center and eventually scored on an Adelphi error.

Freshman right-hander Stephen Bove allowed one run, unearned, on four hits and fanned five over the 7.0 inning distance to go to 3-3 on the year for the Panthers. Liebowitz wound up 2-for-4 with four RBI. Meanwhile, sophomore right-hander Jordan Zareski tossed 3.1 innings of shutout ball out of the pen for Saint Rose.

Looking ahead, the two teams are scheduled to complete their three-game series Wednesday at Adelphi. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 pm on Long Island.

Box Score - Game 1; Box Score - Game 2