Syracuse, N.Y. – The top seed in the NE10 Southwest Division Le Moyne College claimed a 10-5 victory over the no. 4 seed in the division Adelphi University on Tuesday at Dick Rockwell Field in the first round of the NE10 Baseball Championship.

As the highest remaining seed in the southwest division, Le Moyne will now host NE10 Championship Weekend from Thursday to Saturday and compete against the other three remaining NE10 squads in a double-elimination format for the conference title.

"It was a great win today. Our offense really stepped up with some good at bats when we fell behind," said Le Moyne head coach Scott Cassidy '98 following the team's 15^th win in their last 17 games. "These kids just don't give up. They believe they can win every game no matter what the score or inning. Every guy in our lineup can get it done," Cassidy continued.

Tuesday's postseason elimination game between the Dolphins and the Panthers was tied 5-5 midway through the eighth inning, then Le Moyne put up five runs in the bottom of the eighth and 6'5" junior right-handed pitcher Billy Hoffacker (Erial, N.J./Timber Creek/Rowan College of South Jersey) tossed his second consecutive scoreless inning in relief in the top of the ninth to secure the victory and earn his second win of the season.

Graduate second baseman Drew Carroll (Clifton Park, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy (Albany)) recorded his second career multi-home run game with two timely solo shots. Carroll finished with three hits, a team-high three RBI, and a team-high three runs scored. Graduate first baseman Dewey Roden (Sherrill, N.Y./Vernon-Verona-Sherrill/UMass Lowell) also contributed three hits during the postseason victory to go along with two RBI and a run scored.

"(Our lineup) is a chain link. Everybody's got to do their job," said Carroll following the postseason victory. "Freshmen are stepping up, everyone is contributing every single game and it's something special... Our pitching and our offense are just coming together at the perfect time, and I couldn't be happier with our bullpen, our (starting pitchers) and everyone in the lineup. We're deep on the bench too," Carroll added.

Junior left-hander Max Parker (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) started the game on the mound for the Dolphins and held the Panthers to six hits, one walk and four earned runs with five strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work. Adelphi sophomore right-hander John Rizzo pitched the first 6.2 innings for the Panthers, conceding six hits, four walks and four runs with 10 strikeouts.

Parker and Rizzo previously dueled in game one of the regular season series between the two conference foes, and they each allowed just two earned runs in six innings of work during a game that ended in an 8-6 walk-off victory for the Dolphins.

On Tuesday, neither lineup could create good contact against the opposing team's hurler early on. Rizzo and Parker each allowed just one hit and zero runs through the first three innings.

After Parker recorded his third consecutive 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fourth, Roden led off the bottom of the inning for the Dolphins with a single to center field, then freshman designated hitter Brody Keneston (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) moved him over to third with a ground ball double past the third baseman and down the left field line.

After Rizzo recorded back-to-back strikeouts for the first two outs of the inning, freshman left fielder Adam Sullivan (Syracuse, N.Y./Marcellus) came up clutch with a base hit to right field that drove in both runs to break the tie.

After being unable to put a runner in scoring position against Parker through the first four frames, the Panthers recorded three runs in the top of the fifth to take their first lead.

Senior first baseman Michael Draskin drew a walk to lead off the inning for the Panthers, then graduate left fielder Kyle Olson worked a full count before turning on a pitch and lifting a fly ball over the fence just inside the right field foul pole for a game-tying two-run home run.

Parker recorded a strikeout for the first out of the inning, then right fielder Tim Feliz hit a hard ground ball to the left side for a base hit. The third baseman Albert Ramos was hit by a pitch to move Feliz into scoring position, then Feliz tagged up and advanced to third on a flyout to right field. Adelphi's leadoff hitter and hits leader, second baseman Anthony Cipri stepped to the plate next and ripped a single through the right side of the infield to drive in Feliz and give the Panthers a 3-2 advantage.

Rizzo got a flyout for the first out of the bottom of the fifth, but then Carroll smashed a fly ball over the left field fence to tie the game at 3-3.

Adelphi's catcher Alec Maag hit the ball hard to the right side and reached on an error to lead off the top of the sixth, then Draskin swung at the first pitch he saw and launched a home run over the left field fence to make it 5-3 in favor of the Panthers.

Rizzo recorded a 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts in the bottom of the sixth to keep the momentum with Adelphi.

Cipri produced a two-out base hit in the top of the seventh, then advanced to second base during the next at bat, but Parker got a ground ball to end the inning and conclude his day's work.

Sophomore catcher Benji Ries (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson), who led the Dolphins with 24 hits during conference play in the regular season, worked a full count and drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the seventh, but then Adelphi spun a 6-4-3 double play to clear the bases and stifle Le Moyne's momentum.

Carroll stepped to the plate next and got ahead 3-0, then Rizzo threw a called strike, and got Carroll to foul off a fastball to even the count at 3-2. Le Moyne's veteran second baseman then fouled off four consecutive 3-2 pitches before squaring up a fastball and sending a high fly ball towards the foul pole in left field. Carroll began moving towards first base as everyone watched the ball sail towards the fence. "Lifted to left field, tracking back…back…. it's… foul," called 'Phins TV play-by-play commentator Sammy St. Jean on the live stream. For a second it seemed as though Carroll had launched his second home run of the day and cut Le Moyne's deficit in half in the process, but instead he picked up his bat and prepared to face another 3-2 delivery as his fly ball fell foul. On the next 3-2 pitch, Rizzo threw the ball in a similar spot as the previous offering, and once again Carroll put a charge into the ball towards left field. This time Carroll's fly ball was fair, and left the park in a hurry, trimming Le Moyne's deficit to 5-4.

Following a pitching change for the Panthers, Le Moyne kept the two-out rally going as fifth-year shortstop Nick Nevins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) smacked a blooper into right field that dropped in front of the sliding right fielder for a base hit.

Le Moyne's hits leader and three-hitter Roden stepped to the plate next and watched a pitch on the inside corner for a strike before taking a pitch at eye level to even the count at 1-1. On the third pitch of his at bat, the left-handed swinging Roden attacked a low and away pitch and sliced a fly ball down the left field line. With two outs in the inning, Nevins took off on contact, and was rounding second as the ball dropped in between the foul line and Adelphi left fielder.

Olson picked up the ball in the corner of the outfield and fired it in towards the cutoff. Coach Cassidy, serving as the third base coach, vigorously waved Nevins home. Le Moyne's shortstop was almost halfway to the plate when Adelphi's shortstop Jack Wishner caught the relay throw at the edge of the outfield grass. Wishner wheeled and fired towards Maag in front of the plate, but Nevins slid headfirst and touched home before Maag could apply the tag, tying the game at 5-5.

Hoffacker entered the game for the start of the eighth inning and got a flyout on the first pitch he threw. Hoffacker struck out the next two hitters, both swinging, to shut down the Panthers and put the bats back in the Dolphins' hands.

Le Moyne senior center fielder Zach Brush (New York Mills, N.Y./New York Mills) drew his team-leading 34^th walk of the season to lead off the bottom of the eighth, then Sullivan drew a walk with one out in the inning to give Le Moyne runners on first and second.

Ries drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases, then freshman third baseman Lukas Egenhauser (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) lifted a fly ball to right field, looking to provide the Dolphins with a go-ahead sacrifice fly.

Adelphi's right fielder dropped the fly ball, Brush scored to give Le Moyne a 6-5 lead, Egenhauser reached safely, and once again the Dolphins had the bases loaded with one out.

Carroll, Nevins and Roden then delivered three consecutive RBI singles to extend Le Moyne's lead to 9-5. Carroll's was a line drive through the left side, his third consecutive hit in the contest following the two solo home runs; Nevins' was a blooper that dropped into shallow center field, and Roden's was a hard line drive back up the middle that hit Adelphi's relief pitcher Jacob Dannenberg.

In the fifth and final bases-loaded at bat of the inning, Keneston lifted a high fly ball to deep center field that allowed Carroll to tag up and score easily, giving Le Moyne a 10-5 advantage. Dannenberg got another fly ball to center field during the next at bat for the final out of the inning.

Feliz recorded a one-out single against Hoffacker with nobody on in the top of the ninth, but Egenhauser made a nice play at third on a ground ball for the second out of the inning, then Hoffacker got a popup to Nevins at short to end the game and send Le Moyne to Championship Weekend.

The Dolphins also earned a spot in Championship Weekend during the 2022 postseason, and Le Moyne last hosted Championship Weekend during the 2019 campaign.

The 2023 NE10 Championship Weekend will begin on Thursday, with the Dolphins facing off against the no. 2 seed in the Northeast Division, Franklin Pierce University at 11:00 a.m. at Dick Rockwell Field.

#4 NE Bentley upset #1 NE Southern New Hampshire on Tuesday to advance to the NE10 tournament final four, and #3 SW Pace took down #2 SW Southern Connecticut State in the first round.

Pace and Southern Connecticut State will face off on Thursday following Le Moyne's matchup with FPU.

The Dolphins were ranked no. 5 in the most recent NCAA East Region Top 10 Poll that came out on April 30. Since then, the 'Phins have won four out of five games.

With Carroll's two home runs on Tuesday, the Dolphins now have 49 home runs on the year, which is the most home runs tallied by a Le Moyne team since the program transitioned to the Division II level in 2012. The last time a Le Moyne baseball team recorded 50 home runs during a single season was in 2008.