The Albertus Magnus baseball team fell to third-seeded Suffolk 10-5 on Tuesday night in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament opener. The Rams used a five-run fifth inning to take the lead for good before eventually winning 10-5.
With the loss, the Falcons fall to 10-20 on the year, while Suffolk improves to 14-16 and will now head to second-seeded Johnson & Wales (R.I.) on Thursday for a 6:00 p.m. contest.
In their 18th overall appearance in the GNAC Tournament, and their fifth-straight, the Falcons are now 16-21 all-time in GNAC postseason play. Albertus is also now 0-7 against Suffolk when meeting in the GNAC Tournament.
Albertus jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after two innings on Tuesday night in Quincy, Massachusetts. Sophomore Tyler Graziano (Trumbull, Conn.) was hit by a pitch with one out and later scored as senior Anthony Pellegrino (Branford, Conn.) doubled into the right center gap.
In the following inning, Steven Lockman (Wallingford, Conn.) scored the Falcons' second run of the night when a throw to first went awry.
Suffolk would then tie the game at two in the bottom half of the second. Luke Ronchi doubled to left with one out before Drew Carter tripled to center to plate the Rams' first run of the night. An infield error would bring the second run across plate for the Rams to knot the contest at two.
Suffolk added five more runs in the fifth to take a 7-2 lead. The Rams recorded five hits in the frame, including three doubles, to take the commanding lead. Three more runs were scored by Suffolk in the seventh inning led by Brady Chant who drove in a pair of runs with a two-out single to right. Freshman pinch hitter Greg Speliotis doubled to right following that play to plate Chant from first.
The Falcons were able to get three more runs in the ninth inning but their rally was cut short. Pellegrino singled home a run, while Ted Gravel (Morris, Conn.) also had an RBI single. Gravel tallied two RBI on the night for Albertus.
Pellegrino finished the night 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI in the setback for the Falcons. Arber Mehmedi (Naugatuck, Conn.) tallied two hits for Albertus, including a double in the sixth inning.
The Rams' starting hurler, Chuck Gibson, allowed just one earned run over six innings of work before Worth Walrod came in for relief. Gibson allowed six hits and struck out four batters to improve to 2-4 on the season. Walrod recorded his first career save for the Rams as he finished out the game, allowing three runs on three hits. He struck out four.
Pellegrino went 4.2 innings for the Falcons as he allowed seven runs on seven hits and three walks. He also struck out three batters. Mike Hughes (Norwalk, Conn.), Christopher Saunders (Watertown, Conn.), Tom Moore (East Haven, Conn.), and Tyler Donnan (Meriden, Conn.) each came out of the bullpen for the Falcons.