NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College baseball team suffered a setback to the Bears of Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday afternoon, falling by a final score of 12-1.

Joe Matthews (Anaheim, Calif.) and Jason Sullivan (Meriden, Conn.) led the Falcons' offense with two hits apiece. 

THE BASICS
FINAL: Coast Guard Academy 12 | Albertus 1
RECORDS: Albertus (0-9) | Coast Guard Academy (6-6)
LOCATION: Nitchman Field
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bears struck first in the bottom of the first inning off of Falcons' starter Michael Pepe (Cheshire, Conn.). A leadoff single and a passed ball put a runner on third for Coast Guard with one out before Blake Carroll hit an infield single to drive in the game's opening run. Pepe worked around the jam, inducing a flyout and a strikeout to minimize the damage.

Pepe responded with a scoreless second frame, to send AMC into the third trailing 1-0.

Matthews drove a single the other way into right field in the third but was stranded on first when Bears' starter Cody Fidler struck out the next hitter to end the inning. Pepe held the Bears in check in the bottom half of the frame, and the teams moved to the fourth inning with Coast Guard holding a 1-0 lead.

Fiddler held the Falcons scoreless in the fourth, permitting a single to Sullivan. However, the Bears widened their lead in the fourth, hanging a three-spot on the board to take a 4-0 advantage into the fifth.

Matt Warren (Wolcott, Conn.) singled with two outs in the sixth but failed to score when Fiddler retired the next hitter to end the inning. Kozlowski put two men on in the sixth but induced a groundout to short from Coast Guard's John Tacchini to end the frame and hold the deficit at 5-0.

Sullivan led off the seventh inning with a double to center field, but Fidler held the Falcons at bay, retiring the final two hitters of the inning to maintain the Bears' 5-0 advantage. Coast Guard added to its lead in the bottom of the frame, scoring six runs off two hits to go ahead 11-0.

The blue-and-white got on the scoreboard in the eighth inning, loading the bases with no outs to start the frame. Matthews and Arent singled before Warren was hit by a pitch. Sean Jefferson (West Haven, Conn.) launched a deep sacrifice fly into center field in the next at-bat that scored Matthews from third for the Falcons' first run of the game. Unfortunately for AMC, the Bears halted the rally with two quick outs.

Coast Guard answered in the bottom half of the eighth with another run to take a 12-1 lead into the ninth.

The Falcons put a man on in the ninth, as David Flynn (Milford, Conn.) drove a pinch-hit single into right field. However, Bears' reliever Wyatt Duthu halted the threat, retiring the last two hitters he faced to end the game.

TOP PERFORMERS

• WP: Cody Fidler (W, 3-0) | LP: Michael Pepe (L, 0-1)
• The Bears were led offensively by Carroll, who had three hits, two RBIs, and a run scored.
• Matthews had two hits and scored the Falcon's only run of the game.
• Sullivan had two hits for Albertus, which included a double.

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the 33rd all-time meeting between the two programs.
• The Falcons are 12-21 in the all-time series against the Bears.
• Sullivan is on a five-game hitting streak and is batting .333 (6-for-18) with three doubles.
• Tonight's game was Matthews' third multi-hit game in the last four.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will travel to Massachusetts for a doubleheader match-up with the Lasers of Lasell University on Saturday, March 26th. First pitch is set for 4 PM on Stein Diamond in Waltham, Massachusetts.