Hamden, Conn. - Senior Tom Crocco (Kings Park, N.Y.) of the Albertus Magnus College baseball team recorded his first home run of the season as the Falcons fell short to Suffolk University, 7-4, Saturday evening at Hamden High in their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener.

FINAL SCORE (G1): Suffolk 7 | Albertus Magnus 4
FINAL SCORE (G2): Postponed (No make-up date has been set)
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (4-11, 0-1) | Suffolk (6-13, 1-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1:
Suffolk came out of the gate swinging scoring six runs, including two multi-run innings, to take the early lead, 6-0, until the bottom of the fourth as Crocco barreled a ball out of the park, bringing the Falcons to within five, 6-1.

Albertus Magnus struck again in the bottom fifth, cutting the Rams' lead in half, 6-3, after scoring two runs on one hit, including an RBI sac from Matt Warren (Wolcott, Conn.). However, Suffolk added a run a half inning later to push its lead back up to four, 7-3. 

The Falcons continued to swing the bat, but was only able to score a run in the bottom of the sixth before falling to the Rams, 7-4.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
On the Mound (G1):

• Albertus Magnus - Dan Zarnik (1-3): 5.0 IP | 8 H | 6 R | 6 ER | 4 BB | 3 SO
• Albertus Magnus - Angelo Simonelli (Milford, Conn.) (0.1 IP, 1 R, 2 BB) and Omar Diaz (New Haven, Conn.) (1.2 IP, 1 BB, 2 K) each came out of the pen against the Rams.
• Suffolk - Ryan Pordes (1-2): 6.0 IP | 7 H | 4 ER | 5 BB | 5 SO | 1 HR
• Suffolk - Tyler Zell (S,2): 1 IP | 2 H

At the Plate (G1):

• The Rams Will Hopkins and Blase Cormier recorded a team-best two hits while Hopkins brought in one run and scored one himself.
• Albertus Magnus was led offensively by Crocco as the senior went 3-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored.
• Freshman Brandon Fowler added two hits of his own and scored a run for the Falcons off a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth.
• Albertus Magnus finished the game 9-of-28 with two RBI and five strikeouts.
• The Rams left eight runners on base compared to the Falcons who left 10 stranded.
• Suffolk was 8-for-26 at the plate as well as posted seven RBI and five strikeouts.

UP NEXT
The second game of the doubleheader between Albertus Magnus and Suffolk will be played at another time, but no make-up date has been determined. Albertus Magnus returns to the diamond tomorrow, April 8th with a road GNAC doubleheader at Johnson & Wales (RI). First pitch for game one is set for 2 p.m.