MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Albertus Magnus College baseball team opened its 2022 season with a tough loss to the Pilgrims of New England College, falling by a final score of 14-5 on Sunday night.

Junior Ron Losacano (Old Lyme, Conn.) and senior Nhasean Murphy (Manchester, Conn.) led the Falcons on offense, with both picking up multiple hits tonight. Jason Sullivan (Meriden, Conn.) also had a good day at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a three-RBI double.

THE BASICS
FINAL: New England College 14 | Albertus 5
MEETING: This is the 3rd all-time meeting between the Falcons and Pilgrims.
RECORDS: Albertus (0-1) | New England College (4-2)
LOCATION: Ripken Experience - Ebbetts Field
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a pitching duel early on, as both hurlers dominated through the first four innings. The Falcons managed three hits in the first four frames off of Pilgrims' starter Shaun Cormier but were able to secure an early 1-0 lead when Losacano led off the third inning with a hard line-drive single into left-center field. A Bobby Arent (Ridgefield, Conn.) double into the left-center gap plated Losacano, but Cormier slammed the door on the early rally by inducing an inning-ending groundout. Meanwhile, the Falcons' starter, Matthew Silverstein (Shelton, Conn.), kept the Pilgrims off the board by throwing four innings of one-hit ball, while striking out four.

The Pilgrims finally broke through against Silverstein in the fifth, tagging the right-hander for three runs off of a hit and a pair of walks to gain their first lead of the day. Alan Stinson (Watertown, Conn.) came on in relief for Silverstein and managed to stymie the Pilgrim rally, inducing a fly-out and a groundout to end the threat.

The Pilgrims continued adding to their lead, hanging a seven-spot in the top of the sixth inning, behind four hits and a Falcons' error.

NEC secured four more insurance runs over the next few innings, two each in the seventh and eighth, to take a 14-1 lead into the bottom half of the eighth inning.

However, the Falcons did not go away quietly, loading the bases in the eighth with one out behind singles from Losacano and Joe Matthews (Anaheim, Cali.) and a walk from Arent. A Sean Jefferson (West Haven, Conn.) walk forced in a run before Sullivan connected for a bases-clearing double into the right-centerfield gap to make it a 14-5 game.

Despite a scoreless ninth inning from Caden Cloutier (Wallingford, Conn.) and a ninth-inning double from Murphy, the Falcons could not overcome the deficit and fell to the Pilgrims by a final score of 14-5 in their season debut.

TOP PERFORMERS

• WP: Shaun Cormier (W, 2-0) | LP: Matt Silverstein (L, 0-1)
• The Pilgrims were led offensively by Harutaro Takahashi, who had two hits and three RBIs in the contest.
• Losacano and Murphy each had two hits for the Falcons.
• Along with Sullivan's three RBIs, Arent and Jefferson each picked up one RBI for the Falcons.

NOTEWORTHY

• Today's game marked the third all-time meeting between the Falcons and the Pilgrims.
• The Falcons are 0-3 all-time against New England College.
• This is the Falcon's first opening day loss since the 2018 season.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will continue their Myrtle Beach campaign with a doubleheader against the Vikings of Salem State University on Monday, March 14th. The first pitch is set for 9 AM on the Ripken Experience - Crosley Field.