Despite a 2-for-4 effort from Malcolm Mendez (New York,N.Y.), who recorded the Falcons' first home run of the year, the Albertus Magnus baseball team fell to third-ranked Christopher Newport by a score of 10-4on Monday afternoon.
A four-run fourth inning gave the Captains (14-3) an earlyadvantage, while a stellar pitching performance from Jacob Vaughan kept the Falcons (0-2) limited at the plate as they recorded just two hits in the first four innings. Mendez registered one of the Falcons' two multiple base hits onthe afternoon as he added two RBI and one run scored.
The Falcons finished the afternoon with four runs on six hits as Christopher Newport tallied 15 hits in the non-conference contest.
Mendez's four-bagger came in the sixth inning as he cut the Captains' lead to 8-3 by hitting his second career home run with a shot over the left field wall. Zak Solokis (Meriden, Conn.) earned a free pass with one out as he recorded his second walk of the year before scoring on Mendez'stwo-run homer.
With two outs and runners on the corners in the bottom ofthe second inning, a wild pitch thrown by Daniel Kmiechick (Barnegat, N.J.) allowed the Captains to score their first run of the ballgame. The Captains registered their second run ofthe day as Steven Lindemuth hit an RBI single to left to score Luke Saundersfrom second after Saunders recorded a two-out double to get into scoring position.
The Captains scored four runs on five hits in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 6-0. They loaded the bases before a fielder'schoice put the Falcons one-out away from getting out of trouble but Matt Shoemaker doubled to left center to plate two runs, adding onto the Captains'lead. Luke Saunders followed with an RBI single as Christopher Newport added two more runs to its tally.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Falcons registered their first hit of the ballgame as Andre Eason (Waterbury, Conn.) recorded an infield single before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jared Sabanski (Stamford, Conn.). Eason later scored on an error by the Captains' catcher, Ben Lenda. In the bottom of the frame, the Captains added two more runs on four hits to take an 8-1 lead.
After Mendez cut the lead to 8-3 in the sixth, the Captains put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the frame. Albertus scored their fourth run of the game with an RBI single by Robert Gambardella (NorthHaven, Conn.) after back-to-back one-out walks.
Kmiechick went 5.0 innings in his 2012 debut as he gave up14 hits and eight earned runs. Freshman Nick Russo (Stamford, Conn.) was the first Falcon out of the bullpen as he walked five batters and allowed two runsand one hit. Jeff Piscitelli (Wallingford, Conn.) took the hill with no outs in the seventh and did not allow a hit, while he walked three batters in two innings of work.
Christopher Newport's Jacob Vaughan allowed just four hits in seven innings of work as he struck out five Falcons and gave up three runs,two of which were earned.
Albertus will head to St. Mary's City in Maryland on Tuesday to take on St. Mary's in a double-header. Game one of the non-conference double-header is scheduled to begin at noon.
