Senior Kyle Calechman (North Haven, Conn.) tallied three RBI as the Albertus Magnus baseball team fell to North Carolina-Wesleyan 5-4 on Thursday afternoon.
Heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Falcons held a 4-3 lead but an RBI single from Andre Nichols tied the game before a wild pitch allowed the game-winning run to cross the plate.
With the loss, the Falcons fall to 0-5 on the year, while the Battling Bishops improve to 12-13 overall.
An RBI single from Calechman put the Falcons on the board first in the top of the third inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Calechman came up with a key hit to post Albertus' first run of the ballgame.
Freshman Pete Haggerty (South Windsor, Conn.) led off the frame with a single before moving to second on a Patrick Dornfried (Berlin, Conn.) base hit. Fanol Prevalla (Berlin, Conn.) loaded the bases with a single of his own before a strikeout put two outs on the board. Calechman stepped in and recorded his fourth hit of the season as he brought in his second RBI of the year as well.
After six scoreless innings, the Battling Bishops tied the ballgame at one as Pat Laffin recorded an RBI single to right center to score James Johnson from second.
Albertus took back the lead with a three-run eighth inning thanks to three Falcons hits and two NC Wesleyan errors. During the frame, Calechman knocked in two more runs with his first double of the season before scoring the Falcons' third run of the frame.
Heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Falcons held a 4-1 advantage but in the frame, the Bishops tallied two runs to cut the lead to 4-3. After a single and a walk, a triple from Hayden Williams put two runs on the board to position the Bishops to within one run. Jeff Piscitelli (North Haven, Conn.) took over on the hill for the Falcons with two outs in the frame after the Falcons' starter allowed the two runs. Piscitelli struck out the first batter faced in the eighth to get the Falcons out of trouble.
The Falcons could not register a run in the ninth and went into the bottom of the frame with a 4-3 advantage. Piscitelli walked the lead-off batter before freshman Nick Russo (Stamford, Conn.) came in out of the bullpen for the Falcons. A wild pitch and walk put runners on first and second before the Falcons recorded the first out of the frame on a strikeout. A base hit to right field by Andre Nichols scored Jose Pedrosa from second to tie the game. A wild pitch by the Falcons' freshman allowed the game-winning run to cross the plate as NC Wesleyan took the 5-4 victory.
Junior Jim Stanley (North Haven, Conn.) threw a solid 7.2 innings of work as he toed the rubber for the first time this season as he made his first career start in the blue and white. Stanley allowed six hits and threw six shutout innings before giving up three earned runs. He also struck out four batters.
Prevalla finished the contest 2-for-4, while Calechman also had two hits to go along with three RBI. Haggerty added a 2-for-4 performance.
Albertus returns to action on Friday afternoon as the Falcons travel to Salisbury, Md. to take on the nationally-ranked Salisbury University Sea Gulls to conclude their 2012 spring break trip. The Falcons and eighth-ranked Sea Gulls will face off beginning at 2:00 p.m.
