PROVIDENCE, R.I. -  The third-seeded Albertus Magnus College baseball team saw its postseason run come to a close Tuesday evening at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex as the Falcons fell to the third-seeded Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University by a final score of 12-2 in the first round of the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament.

With tonight's loss, the Falcons end the 2022 campaign with an overall record of 10-24, while the Wildcats improve to 14-24 on the year and will challenge second-seeded Anna Maria College in the second round of the GNAC Tournament on Thursday, May 5.  

THE BASICS
FINAL: #3 Johnson & Wales 12 | #6 Albertus Magnus 2
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (10-24) | Johnson & Wales (14-24)
LOCATION: Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex 
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED 

The Falcons put a runner on in both the first and second innings but were held scoreless by Wildcats' starter Dane DellaValle. Albertus starter Tyler Baldwin (Cromwell, Conn.) held JWU off the board in the bottom of the first before giving up the first run of the game in the bottom of the second. Johnson & Wales' Thorin Sanchez-Guerra smacked a solo home run to give the home team an early lead. 

JWU added to its advantage in the bottom of the third inning, when Griffin Snyder hit a two-run bomb to give the Wildcats a three-run lead, 3-0. 

After the Snyder home run, Baldwin settled in and didn't allow another hit over the next 1.1 innings. The sophomore righty finished the game with three earned runs over 4.2 innings on three hits with two strikeouts. 

Albertus continued to pressure the Wildcats in the fourth and fifth innings. The Falcons tallied two singles in the fourth but did not bring any runs across. AMC brought its first run over in the fifth. With Matt Lewczyk (Windsor, Conn.) on second, Jason Sullivan (Meriden, Conn.) hit a two-out single to center field to make it a 3-1 contest. 

Following a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth inning, the Wildcats' bats came alive in the sixth, as JWU tallied six runs on two hits and two errors to build a 9-1 advantage. 

JWU scored two more runs in the bottom of the seventh before Albertus answered with one run in the eighth to cut its deficit to 11-2. With two outs, Sean Jefferson (West Haven, Conn.) fired a double to left field. In the next at-bat, Matt Warren (Wolcott, Conn.) brought Jefferson home with a single to left field. 

Unfortunately for the Falcons, AMC could not bring any more runs across, as the Wildcats secured the 12-2 postseason victory. 

TOP PERFORMERS

• WP: Dane DellaValle (W, 4-4) - 8.0 Innings | 8 Hits | 2 Runs | 1 Walk | 7 Strikeouts
• LP: Tyler Baldwin (L, 2-7) - 4.2 Innings | 3 Hits | 3 Runs | 3 Walks | 2 Strikeout
• Lewczyk and Jefferson paced the Falcons with two hits each. 
• Sullivan and Warren each tallied an RBI. 
• Alex Kozlowski (Shelton, Conn.) posted a scoreless relief appearance. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Today's game marked Albertus' 23rd postseason appearance. 
• The Falcons have made three straight GNAC Tournament appearances. 
• Lewczyk tallied a hit in eight of his last nine games. 
• Jefferson hit his sixth double of the year. 
• Jefferson and Lewczyk finished the year tied for the team lead with 28 hits.