NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Albertus Magnus College baseball team drilled four home runs across two games in their Great Northeast Athletic Conference home opener against Norwich University, with two coming off the bat of Eric Galarza (Bridgeport, Conn.), and split its doubleheader against the Cadets. The Falcons took the first game, 9-3, before falling, 8-5, in the second.

THE BASICS

GAME 1

FINAL: Albertus Magnus 9 | Norwich 3

RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (2-6, 1-0 GNAC) | Norwich (0-12, 0-1 GNAC)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Brock Carpenter pushed John O'Connor home with an RBI fielder's choice to give Norwich the early advantage before the Falcons jumped ahead with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning. Galarza reached first off an error by the right fielder before advancing to third and driving in Vance Ward (Norwalk, Conn.) and Adriel Espada (Bridgeport, Conn.) to put Albertus up, 2-1. Ward led off the inning with a bunt single to third base and got into scoring position after stealing second with Espada at the plate.
• Ward crossed home for the second time in the game after Tyler DeSanty (West Haven, Conn.) sent him home off a single to left field.
• With Albertus nursing a two-run lead in the sixth, Norwich closed the gap to one with back-to-back doubles by Geffen Franus and Jakob Hayes.
• The Falcons broke the game open with five runs in the seventh ignited by a single to left field Elijah Spataj (Cheshire, Conn.) brought Bobby Arent (Ridgefield, Conn.) across the plate and capped off by a DeSanty run scored on a wild pitch.
• Arent closed out the first game with a home run in the eighth inning.

ON THE HILL

Albertus

• Albert Molina (W, 2-1) 9 IP | 6 H | 3 R | 2 ER | 2 BB | 3 K

Norwich

• Matt Ingraffia (L, 0-4) 5 IP | 5 H | 3 R | 1 ER | 3 BB | 9 K
• James Campbell 1.2 IP | 4 H | 5 R | 5 ER | 1 BB | 1 K
• Noah Carpenter 1.1 IP | 2 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 1 K | 1 HR

AT THE PLATE

Albertus

• Bobby Arent 2-for-4 | 2 R | 1 RBI | 1 HR
• Tyler DeSanty 2-for-4 | 1 R | 3 RBI
• Vance Ward 2-for-4 | 3 R | 1 BB

Norwich

• John O'Connor 2-for-4 | 1 R
• Jakob Hayes 1-for-3 | 1 RBI | 1 BB

NOTEWORTHY

• Arent tallied his first homer of the season and fourth of his career.

Game 2

THE BASICS

FINAL: Norwich 8 | Albertus Magnus 5

RECORDS: Norwich (1-12, 0-1) | Albertus (2-7, 1-0)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After Albertus opened game two with a solo home run by Spataj to jump in front, Norwich answered in the top of the second on a two-run shot by Trevor Lussier to take the lead and extended their advantage in the following inning.
• Things started with back-to-back base hits by O'Connor and Franus before a Carpenter double drove O'Connor home, and a Hayes sacrifice fly plated Franus to put the Cadets up, 5-1.
• After a two-run shot out of the park by Espada to reduce their deficit to two, the Norwich bats continued to show up across the last four innings.

ON THE HILL

Albertus

• Toby Marineau (L, 0-2) 2.2 IP | 7 H | 5 R | 4 ER | 2 BB | 2 K | 1 HR
• Aaron McIntyre 2.2 IP | 4 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 1 BB | 4 K
• Tyler Harger 1.2 IP | 1 H | 1 K

Norwich

• Carson Rath (W, 1-3) 4 IP | 5 H | 4 R | 4 ER | 1 BB | 3 K | 2 HR
• Jordan Talbot 3 IP | 2 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 1 BB | 1 K | 1 HR

AT THE PLATE

Albertus

• Eric Galarza 2-for-4 | 2 R | 1 RBI | 1 HR
• Adriel Espada 1-for-3 | 1 R | 2 RBI | 1 HR | 1 BB

Norwich

• John O'Connor 1-for-2 | 2 R | 2 BB
• Geffen Franus 3-for-4 | 1 R | 2 RBI
• Trevor Lussier 3-for-4 | 1 R | 2 RBI

NOTEWORTHY

• Espada notched his first career homer, while Spataj recorded his second this season.

UP NEXT

The Falcons play a single match-up against Rivier on Monday at 3 p.m. on Rochford Field.