HAMDEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College baseball team lost a hard-fought battle in extra innings to the Owls of Keene State College by a final score of 8-4 on Wednesday evening in non-conference play at Rochford Field. 

Junior Ron Losacano (Old Lyme, Conn.) and senior Matt Lewczyk (Windsor, Conn.) led the Falcons' attack with a team-leading two hits. Junior Anthony Broadhurst (Stratford, Conn.) also served as an offensive threat for Alberts as the catcher tallied one hit, three RBIs, and a run scored. 

THE BASICS
FINAL: Keene State 8 | Albertus Magnus - 10 innings
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (0-12) | Keene State (2-12)
LOCATION: Rochford Field
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED
Neither team was able to get anything going in the first inning, as Owls' starter, Phil Nichols, and Falcon's hurler Michael Pepe (Cheshire, Conn.) combined to throw a scoreless first inning.

Pepe kept the Owls off of the board in the second inning with a 1-2-3 inning, before the Falcon's bats went to work. With two outs, Yandy James (Paterson, N.J.) reached first on a dropped third strike, before Alex Kozlowski (Shelton, Conn.) stroked an infield single that put runners on first and second. An Owl's error scored James from second for the first run of the day, before Nichols slammed the door with an inning-ending strikeout. 

The Owls retaliated quickly, scoring two runs in the top of the third off of a two-run homerun from Brendan Eaton to take the 2-1 advantage. The Falcons were unable to respond in the bottom half of the stanza, despite a single from Losacano and an Owl's error. 

Keene State and Albertus were unable to score through the fourth and fifth innings, keeping the score at 2-1. Jayden Cumbo threw a scoreless fourth inning for the Falcons, inducing an inning-ending double-play from the Owls before Caden Cloutier (Wallingford, Conn.) followed up with a scoreless fifth inning.  

The Owls added to their advantage in the sixth inning, scoring two runs off two hits to take the three-run advantage, 4-1. 

Zack Fenn (Oakville, Conn.) pitched a clean, three-up, three-down seventh inning for the Falcons before Albertus went to work at the plate. Broadhurst led off the frame with a hit-by-pitch before advancing to second base on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt from Nhasean Murphy (Manchester, Conn.). A Lewczyk groundout advanced Broadhurst to third followed by another hit-by-pitch that put Losacano on first. Matt Warren (Wolcott, Conn.) stepped to the plate and laced a single into right field that scored Broadhurst for the second Albertus run of the day, 4-2. Owls reliever Gregory Esposito stymied the rally from there, getting a strikeout to end the frame.

Jason Sullivan (Meriden, Conn.) came in to pitch for the Falcons in the eighth inning and held the Owls scoreless to preserve the two-run deficit.

Bobby Arent (Ridgefield, Conn.) led off the bottom of the eighth with a single into left field, before James reached on an error. A Kozlowski sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out. Broadhurst wasted no time, ripping a long single into the outfield to score both Kozlowski and Arent and knot the score at 4-all. A Lewczyk single put runners on first and second with two outs. Losacano put a valiant swing on the pitch but flew out to deep right field to end the inning and send the game into extras.  

The Owls put the game out of reach for the Falcons in the tenth, scoring four runs off of four hits to take a commanding 8-4 lead. The Falcons battled in the bottom half of the frame, as Shawn Smith (Shelton, Conn.) led off the inning with a double. Khamari Dunlap (Nashville, Tenn.) pinch ran and advanced to third when Lewczyk hit an infield single. With two outs and two on, Owls reliever Brendan Muhs bared down and retired Losacano to end the game and give the Owls the 8-4 victory.  

TOP PERFORMERS

• WP: Brendan Muhs (1-2) - 2.0 Innings | 1 Walk | 3 Strikeouts
• LP: Jason Sullivan  (0-1) - 2.1 Innings | 5 Hits | 3 Runs | 1 Walk | 3 Strikeouts
• Cumbo and Fenn each had scoreless outings for the blue-and-white on the mound. 
• Lewczyk and Losacano led the Falcons with two hits apiece. 
• Broadhurst tallied three RBIs and a run scored. 

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the fifth all-time meeting between the Falcons and the Owls.
• The Falcons are 0-5 all-time against Keene State. 
• Lewczyk collected his first hit of the season in tonight's loss. 
• Losacano is hitting .400 over his last three games (4-for-10). 

UP NEXT
The Falcons return to the diamond on Saturday, April 2nd with a home Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader against the Bulldogs of Dean College. Game one is slated for a 12 PM start, while game two will start at 2:30.