WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — In a doubleheader split, the Albertus Magnus College baseball team battled in a pair of back-to-back matchups on the road at Great Northeast Athletic Conference in-state rival University of Saint Joseph's (Conn.) on Saturday. The Falcons rallied back from a two-run deficit in the seventh following a tough 6-5 loss after twelve innings in game one, while Albertus snatched a game-two victory, 5-4, in the final frame.
 

GAME 1

THE BASICS

FINAL: Saint Joseph's (Conn.) 6 | Albertus Magnus 5 (12 innings)

RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (9-21, 4-11 GNAC) | USJ (16-18-1, 8-7 GNAC)

BOX


HOW IT HAPPENED

• With Eric Galarza (Bridgeport, Conn.) at the plate and the bases full of Falcons, Adriel Espada (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored off a wild pitch in the first inning after leading off the frame with a bunt single and stole second.
• Albert Molina (Terryville, Conn.) retired three straight Blue Jays in the first inning to keep Albertus ahead.
• Shawn Smith (Shelton, Conn.) kept the bats alive with an RBI single to bring home Anthony Abate (Naugatuck, Conn.) in the third to put the visitors up, 2-0. Abate singled through the middle of the diamond two batters prior before stealing second base to get into scoring position.
• In the nine-hole, Vance Ward (Norwalk, Conn.) singled, but advanced to second after the pitcher overthrew the ball, who attempted to pick off Ward at first base, and kept the wheels turning to land on third. Espada's sacrifice fly to right field gave Ward time to race home for an unearned run. 
• Molina put in three scoreless innings of work with only allowing a walk and a lone hit before Dom Scalia led off the fourth frame with a solo home run out of left field.
• The hosts tacked on three more runs in the fourth to tie and eventually take a 5-3 lead off a sac fly to bring in Ryan Quinn and a solo homer by JJ Fox.
• Elijah Spataj (Cheshire, Conn.) ignited a seventh-inning rally with an RBI triple inches away from the left field line as Espada scored to shorten the margin to one, followed by a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Smith to bring home Spataj one batter later knotted the game at five apiece to force extra innings.
• The Falcons pulled off a pair of double plays in the eighth and 10th innings to keep the game tied at 5-5. In the eighth frame, Ethan Reemsnyder lined out to Espada before tossing it to second baseman Bobby Arent (Ridgefield, Conn.) to get out of the frame. With the bags loaded with Blue Jays, Reemsnyder grounded out to Espada at shortstop and completed the double play with Smith at first base in the tenth inning.
• With two outs on the board, the Blue Jays nabbed a game-one victory off a dropped ball by the centerfielder for the 6-5 win.

ON THE MOUND

Albertus

• Albert Molina 3.2 IP | 6 Hits | 5 Runs | 5 ER | 2 BB | 2 HR
• Riley Corgan (L, 1-3) 8.0 IP | 4 Hits | 1 Run | 2 BB | 1 K

 

USJ

• Kaden Murphy 6.1 IP | 8 Hits | 5 Runs | 4 ER | 1 BB | 6 K
• Zach Thielen 2.1 IP | 1 Hit | 3 K
• Luke Fox (W, 2-0) 3.1 IP | 1 Hit | 4 K

 
AT THE PLATE

Albertus

• Adriel Espada 2-for-5 | 2 Runs | 1 RBI | 1 SB | 1 2B
• Anthony Abate 3-for-5 | 1 Run | 2 SB 
• Elijah Spataj 1-for-5 | 1 Run | 1 RBI | 1 BB | 1 3B

 
USJ

• Ryan Quinn 1-for-4 | 1 Run | 2 RBI | 1 BB
• Dom Scalia 2-for-4 | 1 Run | 1 RBI | 1 HR | 2 BB | 1 2B
• JJ Fox 2-for-5 | 2 Run | 1 RBI | 1 HR | 

GAME 2

THE BASICS

FINAL: Albertus Magnus 5 | USJ 4
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (11-21, 5-11 GNAC) | USJ (16-19-1, 8-8 GNAC)

BOX


HOW IT HAPPENED

• The home team etched three runs in the third inning to jump ahead of the Falcons, 3-0, before Smith's two-bagger in the sixth brought home Troy Piascik (East Haven, Conn.) and Spataj to close the gap by one. On the next at bat, Abate singled through the middle as Galarza notched a tally to even the score to three each. The Falcons connected for five straight hits in the frame with only one out on the board as Spataj, Piascik and Galarza singled to load the bases before coming back home.
• Colin Telford (Branford, Conn.) launched a sacrifice fly deep into centerfield as Smith scored to put the Falcons up, 4-3.
• In the bottom of the sixth, USJ scored to regain the 4-4 lead before Galarza singled through the right side to bring King Rivera (Bridgeport, Conn.) back to the plate. After Spataj singled to third base, Rivera came in to pinch run for the DH and stole second before Piascik's single advanced Rivera to third.
• Aaron McIntyre (East Haven, Conn.) retired three consecutive batters in the bottom of the ninth to secure his first career win as a Falcon.

ON THE MOUND

Albertus

• Tyler Baldwin 5.0 IP | 7 Hits | 3 Runs | 3 ER | 2 BB | 2 K
• Tyler Harger 1.0 IP | 5 Hits | 1 Run | 1 ER
• Aaron McIntyre (W, 1-0) 3.0 IP | 1 Hit | 4 K

USJ 

• Alec Ash 5.1 IP | 7 Hits | 4 Runs | 4 ER | 1 BB | 4 K
• Tyler Slack (L, 0-1) 3.2 IP | 7 Hits | 1 Run | 1 ER | 1 BB | 3 K

AT THE PLATE

Albertus

• Eric Galarza 3-for-5 | 1 Run | 1 RBI
• Shawn Smith 2-for-5 | 1 Run | 2 RBI | 2B
• Elijah Spataj 3-for-5 | 1 Run
• Troy Piascik 3-for-5 | 1 Run

 
USJ

• Ben Balducci 2-for-4 | 1 Run | 1 RBI
• JJ Fox 2-for-4 | 1 Run | 1 RBI
• Dom Scalia 2-for-4 | 1 RBI | 1 BB | 2B

NOTEWORTHY

• Smith has a hit in 14 of his last 15 games.

UP NEXT

• The Falcons close out the regular season on Wednesday on the road at Merchant Marine for a 7 p.m. matchup.