Junior Sarah Ropiak held Adelphi to a pair of unearned runs on seven hits, but Stonehill fell 2-0 in the NE-10 semifinal round this afternoon.

Junior Sarah Ropiak holds Panthers to two unearned runs on seven hits

MANCHESTER, N.H. (May 1, 2015) – Southwest Division top seed Adelphi University scored a pair of unearned runs in the third inning and held off Northeast Division second seed Stonehill College for a 2-0 victory this afternoon in the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Softball Tournament on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University.

Adelphi (25-18, 13-5 NE-10), ranked third in this week's NCAA East Regional Rankings, advances to tomorrow afternoon's championship game to take on host and Northeast Division top seed Southern New Hampshire. Stonehill (21-15, 13-8), the ninth-ranked team in the East Region, will find out its NCAA Tournament fate on Monday morning at 10 a.m. when the field is announced during the selection show on NCAA.com.

Junior Sarah Ropiak (Acton, Massachusetts/Acton-Boxborough) got the start for Stonehill and turned in a strong performance, striking out three and holding the Panthers to the two unearned runs on seven hits.

Sophomore Lindsay Mapes (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Centerburg) led Adelphi into the championship game with an impressive effort in the circle, as she struck out nine batters and scattered six hits over seven shutout innings.

Sophomore Cassandra Squeri recorded one of Stonehill's six hits today.

Freshman Brenna Martini (Fairfield, Connecticut/Fairfield Ludlowe) recorded three of the Panthers' seven hits and scored one of their two runs, while senior Jaclyn Binstock (Centereach, New York/Centereach) went 1-for-3 with one RBI and classmate Victoria Wink (Seaford, New York/Seaford) singled and scored a run.

Six different Skyhawks recorded singles this afternoon, including juniors Megan Ruonavaara (Rocky Hill, Connecticut/Rocky Hill) and Ropiak and sophomores Michelle Carbone (Deer Park, New York/St. Anthony's) and Cassandra Squeri (New Providence, New Jersey/New Providence).

Adelphi stranded three runners on base over the first two innings, before breaking through for a pair of runs in the third. Ropiak retired the first two batters of the frame, but Wink reached on an error with two outs before moving up to second on a single by Martini. Binstock came up next and hit a ground ball that was fielded by Stonehill junior shortstop Emily Padilla (Wappingers Falls, New York/Roy C. Ketcham), who fired the ball across the diamond to first base after realizing she did not have a play at third. Wink rounded third and broke for home when the throw went to first base, as the Panthers took a 1-0 lead. Shortly after, Martini came in to score on a wild pitch to cap the two-run frame.

Stonehill threatened in the fourth, as Squeri and Ruonavaara recorded back-to-back two-out singles, but Mapes got out of the jam with a ground out. The Skyhawks stranded two more runners on base in the fifth and went down in order in the sixth.

Mapes retired the first two batters in the seventh, but sophomore Taylor Lester (East Northport, New York/St. Anthony's) and freshman Erin Brayden (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) kept Stonehill's hopes alive with consecutive pinch-hit singles. Adelphi avoided damage yet again as a ground out ended the contest, stranding Stonehill's sixth and seventh runners on base.

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