NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College baseball team concluded its home portion of the season with a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader split with the Cadets of Norwich University Wednesday afternoon at Rochford Field. 

The Cadets claimed game one by a two-run advantage, 8-6, but the Falcons bounced right back in the nightcap, mercying the visitors in seven innings, 12-1. 

Seniors Jason Sullivan (Meriden, Conn.) and Sean Jefferson (West Haven, Conn.) recorded a day for the Falcons as the dynamic duo finished with two home runs each, while Shawn Smith (Shelton, Conn.) added a home run. Jefferson also finished with a team-leading six RBI and five hits and earned the "W" on the mound in game two after allowing just one run on eight hits while striking out two batters over 7.0 innings. 

Over the two games, Albertus had seven players - Jefferson, Sullivan, S. Smith, Bobby Arent (Ridgefield, Conn.), Ron Losacano (Old Lyme, Conn.), Nick Ramos (Mineola, N.Y.), and John Riccio (Shelton, Conn.) - record three or more hits, while Joseph Cortes (Bridgeport, Conn.) tallied just one hit.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE (G1): Norwich 8 | Albertus Magnus 6
FINAL SCORE (G2): Albertus Magnus 12 | Norwich 1
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (9-23, 3-13 GNAC) | Norwich (10-21, 4-1 GNAC)
BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 

KEY HIGHLIGHTS - Game 1

• The Cadets took the early lead in the top of the first after scoring three runs on two hits and two Falcon errors.
• Albertus' first run of the game came in the bottom of the second as S. Smith recorded his seventh home run of the season and trimmed the deficit to two, 3-1.
• Following a 1-2-3 at bat by the Cadets, Albertus continued to swing the bat and recorded its second straight one-run inning in the bottom of the third to bring the score to 3-2.
• Arent started the inning with a double to left center before a single from Losacano put runners on the corners. Despite one out on the scoreboard, Arent managed to cross home on a fielder's choice, but Losacano and Jefferson were stranded on base due to a ground out to the shortstop.
• Norwich countered the Falcons in the top of the fourth by pushing its lead back to two, 4-2, on a one-out sacrifice fly from Tyler Callahan.
• Albertus' next at-bat saw the hosts take its first lead of the day, 5-4, in the bottom of the fourth behind a three-run inning, highlighted by a two-run double from Arent and a RBI groundout from Losacao.
• In the top of the sixth, Norwich regained the lead, 6-5, as Callahan recorded a two-run homer over the left field fence. 
• In the home half of the inning, Arent tied the game at 6-all for the Falcons behind a one-out RBI double from Arent. 
• Norwich managed to push its lead to two, 8-6, following a two-run, one-hit inning in the top of the seventh before shutting down the Falcons during their final at-bat to secure the game-one victory, 8-6. 

ON THE MOUND
WP: John Luchsinger (W, 3-0) - 3.0 IP | 2 H | 1 R | 0 ER | 1 BB | 1 SO | 0 HR
LP: Caden Cloutier (Wallingford, Conn.) (L, 0-1) - 0.0 IP | 1 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 2 BB | 0 SO | 0 HR

AT THE PLATE

• Arent went perfect at the plate in game one going 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
• S. Smith finished with two hits, an RBI, and a run scored.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS - Game 2

• Albertus kicked off game two with a bang as back-to-back solo home runs from Jefferson and Sullivan gave the Falcons the early two-run advantage. 2-0.
• Jefferson tallied his eighth home run of the season, while Sullivan earned his fourth. 
• The Falcons continued to swing the bat and recorded another two-run inning in the bottom of the second, doubling their lead, 4-0, behind a RBI double from Losacano and a RBI single from Jefferson.
• After being silenced in the third, Albertus made some noise in the bottom half of the fourth as a two-out single from Jefferson drove in Losacano from second to put the hosts ahead, 5-0. 
• Norwich broke its scoreless drought in the top of the sixth putting one run on the scoreboard. 
• Still, Albertus answered back, scoring three runs behind three hits, including a two-run home from Jefferson and a RBI double from Smith, for the seven-run advantage, 8-1.
• Despite numerous defensive changes from the Cadets, Albertus was still able to capitalize on offense scoring an impressive four runs to put the game out of reach, 12-1. 
• With two outs and a runner on second, Riccio started things with a single down the left field line to drive in Arent. From there, Jefferson singled and advanced Riccio to second before Sullivan homered to left field, clearing the bases and forcing a seven-inning mercy, 12-1. 
• Sullivan's second home run pushed his season total to five, and he also recorded his second game with two home runs. 
• Jefferson extended his home run total to nine on the year and tallied his first game of the season with two home runs. 

ON THE MOUND
WP: Sean Jefferson (W, 2-1) - 7.0 IP | 8 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 2 SO
LP: Nathan Abbott (L, 1-3) - 2.0 IP | 8 H | 4 R | 4 ER | 2 HR 

AT THE PLATE

• Jefferson recorded a team-high five RBI, followed closely by Sullivan with four.
• Losacano, S. Smith and Riccio each tallied one RBI.
• Jefferson also had a team-high five hits during five at-bats. 
• Sullivan and Losacano each recorded three hits, while S. Smith, Arent, and Ramos had two. 

UP NEXT
The Falcons return to the diamond on Saturday, April 29th, for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader against the Blazers of Elms College. Game times are set for 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in Chicopee Mass.