NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College baseball team opened the 2023 spring season with an 11-0 non-conference road loss to the Mariners of Mitchell College Thursday afternoon. Today's game was shortened from a nine-inning game to a seven-inning game due to darkness.

THE BASICS
FINAL: Mitchell 11 | Albertus Magnus 0
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (0-1) | Mitchell (1-0)
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Mitchell wasted no time opening up the scoring, as the Mariners tallied two runs in the first and two in the second to take the early 4-0 lead over the Falcons. 
• Albertus threatened the Mariners in the top of the third, putting runners on first and second with two outs, but a fly out to center field from Sean Jefferson (West Haven, Conn.) ended the threat.
• Solid defensive work from the blue-and-white kept the hosts at bay in the bottom of the third, forcing the Mariners to leave the bases loaded.
• The Mariners slowly began to pull away with the lead after recording a huge fourth and fifth inning that saw five runners cross the plate, making the score 9-0.
• The Falcons began to show life in the top of the seventh by loading the bases following a walk from Shawn Smith (Shelton, Conn.), an error by the Mariner first baseman, and a walk from Alex Kozlowski (Shelton, Conn.). However, the rally was cut short due to a flyout to center field.
• With the darkness fast approaching, Mitchell had the final at-bat and was kept from adding more runs to the scoreboard. 

BULL PEN STATS

• WP: Camren Varney (W, 1-0): 5.0 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 2 BB | 8 SO
• LP: Justin Marks (Beacon Falls, Conn.) (L, 0-1): 3.0 IP | 4 H | 6 R | 6 BB | 6 SO

AT THE PLATE

• Albertus finished the game 3-for-25 at the plate, while Mitchell went 11-for-33. 
• Ron Losacano (Old Lyme, Conn.), Jefferson, and Jason Sullivan (Meriden, Conn.) finished with a hit each. 
• Matt Falk led Mitchell as the senior catcher went 2-for-2 with a home run, five RBI, and a pair of walks. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Today's game was the 15th all-time meeting between the two programs. 
• King Rivera (Bridgeport, Conn.), Eric Galarza (Bridgeport, Conn.), Anthony Abate (Naugatuck, Conn.), Aidan Kane (Middlebury, Conn.), Justin Marks (Beacon Falls, Conn.), Christian Corliss (Burlington, Conn.), and AJ Rooks (Coventry, Conn.) all made their collegiate debuts with the Falcons. 

UP NEXT

The Falcons return to the diamond on March 8th with a solo road game at Mt. St. Mary (N.Y.). The first pitch is set for 6:00 PM.