Northborough, Mass. – The Albertus Magnus College baseball team fell on the road to in-state foe Eastern Connecticut State University, 15-6, Wednesday afternoon in non-conference play at the New England Baseball Complex.

THE BASICS
FINAL: Eastern Conn. St. 15 | Albertus Magnus 6
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (1-1) | Eastern Conn. St. (2-0)
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED
Albertus immediately got the scoring going in the top of the first with Matt Warren (Wolcott, Conn.) hitting a deep ball over the outfield fence, scoring Joseph Matthews (Anaheim, Calif.) from first to give the Falcons the early advantage, 2-0.

With one out and runners on second and third, sophomore Elijah Spataj (Cheshire, Conn.) staked Albertus to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third as the first baseman drove in Matthews on a sac fly RBI to centerfield. 

Eastern Conn. St. finally got on the board in the bottom of the third and managed to cut the deficit to two, 3-1, behind a RBI double from Ryan Bagdasarian. 

Over the next two innings, Albertus continued to swing the bat and scored two runs on two hits to extend its lead to 5-1, but the Warriors scored three runs on three hits to make it a one-run game, 5-4, entering the top of the sixth.

The Falcons' bullpen was unable to shutdown the Warriors in the bottom of the sixth, as the hosts put eight runs on the board to make the game out of reach for the blue-and-white. 

Eastern Conn. St. scored an additional three runs in the bottom of the seventh, while Albertus scored a run in the top of the ninth, resulting in the 15-6 final.

KEY STATS

• Junior Brandon Fowler (Lexington, S.C.) suffered the loss for the Falcons as he only threw 1.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits.
• Warren finished 2-for-5 with a team-high two RBI's and a run scored.
• Spataj went 2-for-4 at the plate with a team-best two RBI's and a run scored.
• Billy Oldham picked up the win for the Warriors as he pitched two innings and allowed only two hits.

NOTEWORTHY

• Following today's loss, the Falcons are now 0-12 all-time against the Warriors.
• Today's homer is Warren's 11th in his four-year career.
• Today's homer is Spataj's sixth in his two-year career. 
• Brandon Clark (Cheshire, Conn.) and Nhasean Murphy (Manchester, Conn.) also posted an RBI each for the Falcons in the loss. 
• Clark's home run in the top of the fifth was his eighth career homer.
• Vincent Gualtieri (Norwich, Conn.), Chris Ciarleglio (North Haven, Conn.) and Nick Gallivan (Preston, Conn.) all made their collegiate debuts today.
• Albertus finished the day with 11 hits and six RBI's, while Eastern Conn. tallied 19 hits and 14 RBI's.

UP NEXT
The Falcons return to action on Sunday, March 8 as the team kicks off their annual Spring Break Trip to the Palmetto State with a non-conference clash against Lehman College. First pitch is set for 6PM.