Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior first baseman Dillon Fontaine (Amenia, N.Y.) drove a 1-2 pitch through the left side of the infield with the bases loaded and two outs to give the American International College baseball team a 5-4 walk-off victory over Adelphi University Thursday afternoon at AIC Park.

The Yellow Jackets, who bounced back from an 8-2 loss at Adelphi yesterday, improved to 9-15 for the season and 3-7 in the Northeast-10. The Panthers record fell to 17-8-1 overall and 7-3 in the NE-10.

AIC led 3-2 heading into the top of the eight before graduate right fielder Omar Velazquez (Astoria, N.Y.) crushed a two-run bomb over the left-center field fence to give Adelphi its first lead of the game.

After leaving the bases loaded in the home half of the eighth, each of the first three Yellow Jacket batters reached base to start the bottom of the ninth. Junior left fielder Dennis Duffy (Warwick, R.I.) started the inning with a double to left center and later scored from third on a sac-fly from senior catcher Anthony Arrichiello (Yonkers, N.Y.) to tie the game at four.

Senior right fielder Kyle McNiff (Westford, Mass.) was then intentionally walked to load the bases, setting up the game-winning hit for Fontaine.

AIC led 2-0 early on off solo homers from sophomore shortstop Chris Amate (Weymouth, Mass.) and McNiff in the first and second inning, respectively, and the score remained that way until the Panthers scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth.

The Yellow Jackets regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh when McNiff scored on Duffy's line-out to center and AIC had the bases loaded with two outs, but was unable to extend its lead.

Senior reliever Sean Stevenson (Holyoke, Mass.) got five straight outs after giving up the homerun to Velazquez to earn the decision on the mound. Freshman Daniel Guerrero (Elizabeth, N.J.) received a no decision after allowing two runs on three hits in six innings. Sophomore Jimmy Milani (Centereach, N.Y.) was tagged with the loss after giving up both runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Amate finished the day 3-for-4 at the dish with an RBI and a run scored, while McNiff went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one driven in.

Velazquez was 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored for the Panthers, while senior center fielder Trevor Thorstensen (Holbrook, N.Y.) went 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored.