Manchester, N.H. - Georgian Court University advances to its third-ever trip (and first since 2014) to the NCAA Division II East Regional Tournament championship round as the #1 Lions escaped with a 5-3 rebound triumph over #3 Adelphi University in a Friday elimination game.

GCU, which opened the day by having its 14-game winning streak erased in a 2-0 loss to #2 Saint Anselm College, now returns to the diamond Saturday at noon needing two wins over the host-Hawks (31-4) to advance to next week's NCAA Division II Softball Championship (May 27-31) in Denver, Colo.

Looking to strike first vs. Adelphi, Georgian Court (36-5) did just that as Alyssa Herrera (3-for-4) clubbed a first-inning long ball to left (4th of year) to put the Lions up, 1-0. The Panthers responded in the home half of the frame with a ribbie ground out to knot the contest at 1-1 after one full.

The stalemate would hold until the GCU fifth when the #22 team in the nation snapped the tie, courtesy of a Caitlin Hughes sacrifice fly and a Taylor Barraza (2-for-4)  RBI single to left-center. Now owning a 3-1 cushion, the Lions added a pair of crucial insurance tallies in the subsequent stanza, resulting from an Alyssa Rue pinch-hit, run-scoring triple, followed by a run-permitting Adelphi fielding gaffe. The Panthers' leather proved suspect throughout the contest, resulting in four total miscues in the setback.

Heading into the seventh-and-final frame with a 5-1 lead, Adelphi managed to plate a pair off a sacrifice foul fly and a Hannah Pineda (Sr.-New Hyde Park, N.Y.) RBI double, but that would be all of the offensive output the Panthers (30-10) could muster in what would be a season-ending defeat.

Samantha Fohrman started in the circle for the Lions, going three no-hit frames in the no-decision (1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K). Mikayla Gilgert went the final four innings for the victors, yielding two runs (2 ER) on four hits (0 BB, 3 K) to improve to a dazzling 20-3 on the year.