Baseball Topped Twice by Johnson & Wales in GNAC Play

Photo by: Zaida Velazco
Photo by: Zaida Velazco

Providence, R.I. – The Albertus Magnus College baseball team lost both games in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader versus Johnson & Wales on Sunday afternoon at the SMG Athletic Complex. The Wildcats took the opener, 5-2, and raced past the Falcons, 20-3, in the finale.

With the two losses, Albertus Magnus moves to 6-12 on the spring and 0-2 in league play, while the JWU ran their winning streak to seven games to improve to 15-4 overall and 4-0 in conference contests.

Game One
The Wildcats took advantage of four Falcon errors in the opener to score the victory. Johnson & Wales opened the scoring in the tilt with three runs in the home half of the third. With one out, JWU DH Frank D'Amato sent a one-out RBI single through the left side and two batters later second basemen Jordan Pilarski hit a triple to right field that scored a pair. The hosts added an insurance run in the fourth courtesy of an infield RBI single to hold a 4-0 advantage.

Albertus Magnus cut the deficit in half in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs. Senior second basemen Tyler Robertson (Cheshire, Conn.) got the Falcons on the board with a sacrifice fly to center that brought classmate Jordan Kubilus (Cheshire, Conn.) racing home. Two batters later, senior outfielder Ted Gravel (Morris, Conn.) made it a two-run game with an RBI double down the left field line.

An inning later, Johnson & Wales padded its lead and closed out the scoring to make it a three-run contest. During the stanza, Wildcat leadoff hitter Rob Ballinger came around to score on a wild pitch.

On the bump, freshman hurler Malachi Emond (Coventry, Conn.) was saddled with the loss for the Falcons. Emond worked five and two-thirds innings and surrendered three earned runs, while fanning eight batters.

Game Two
In the nightcap, the Wildcats scored a run in every one inning in which they came to the plate. Johnson & Wales jumped out to an early 4-0 edge after the first and blew the game open with nine runs in the bottom of the third.

At the dish, senior infielder Justin Poirier (Meriden, Conn.) led the charge for the Falcons with a two-hit performance. Poirier accounted for one third of the team's hits, highlighted by an RBI double in the top of the third.

Eight different pitchers toed the rubber for AMC with junior Michael Terzi (Walingford, Conn.) taking the loss for the guests.  

Albertus Magnus returns to action on Monday, April 11, with a road GNAC doubleheader versus Lasell. Last season, the Falcons and Lasers split a doubleheader in West Haven.

For the latest information on the baseball team and Albertus Magnus athletics, follow AMCAthletics on Twitter and visit AlbertusFalcons.com.