WEST HAVEN, Conn. - Tyler Czeremcha (New Britain, Conn.) hit a walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning, lifting the Albertus Magnus College baseball team to a thrilling 12-11 win over Rivier University in a back-and-forth Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game at West Haven High School on Tuesday evening.

Czeremcha finished the day 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBI and Anthony Abate (Naugatuck, Conn.) went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Eric Galarza (Bridgeport, Conn.) reached base three times, including two walks and a double, driving in two and scoring a run.

THE BASICS

FINAL: Albertus Magnus 12 | Rivier 11 (10 Innings)

RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (3-7, 2-0 GNAC) | Rivier (3-11, 0-1 GNAC)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Rivier took advantage of two wild pitches and an error to take a 2-0 lead after the top of the first inning.

• The Falcons responded as they put the first three batters of the bottom of the second on base before Adriel Espada (Bridgeport, Conn.) drove in Jason Sullivan (Meriden, Conn.) with a ground out. An RBI single from Vance Ward (Norwalk, Conn.) that scored Abate tied the game and an RBI groundout by Elijah Spataj (Cheshire, Conn.) gave the Falcons its first lead of the game at 3-2.

• The Raiders tied the game in the third on an RBI double by Luis Colon and they took their second lead in the top of the fifth.

• Albertus opened the floodgates in the bottom of the sixth, taking a 9-4 lead. Ward tied the game after he reached on an error that scored Abate. After a single from Spataj to tie the game, Galarza ripped a two-run double to centerfield to score Ward and Czeremcha to give Albertus a 6-4 lead. A pinch-hit sacrifice fly from Shawn Smith made it a 7-4 game and two errors from the Raiders gave the Falcons the 9-4 lead.

• Rivier responded in the top of the seventh, getting to within a run taking advantage of a passed ball and an error and capped by an RBI single from Alex Gallicano.

• After the Falcons went scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, the Raiders tied the game up again in the top of the eighth on a solo homer from Luis Tejada.

• It was looking like Czeremcha would be the hero in the bottom of the eighth after he hit a bases loaded two-run single as he stuck the bat out and hit a soft blooper into centerfield that scored Bobby Arent (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Colin Telford (Branford, Conn.), making it an 11-9 game.

• With the Falcons looking to close the door on the game in the top of the ninth, the Raiders loaded the bases and Owen Medlock hit an infield single that drove in a run and Dylan Aliberti was hit by a pitch that tied the game. Tyler Harger (North Haven, Conn.) was able to get the last two batters out, leaving the bases loaded.

• Harger retired the side in the top of the tenth in order, setting the stage for an exciting bottom half of the inning.

• Arent hit a one-out single to start the rally. Abate followed by reaching on a fielder's choice. While Czeremcha was at the plate, Abate stole second and Aliberti, who was Rivier's catcher, threw the ball into the outfield allowing Abate to reach third. On the next pitch, Czeremcha ripped a single between the first and second baseman, scoring Abate and giving Albertus the win.

ON THE MOUND

Albertus

• Riley Corgan (New Milford, Conn.) 6.1 IP | 8 Runs | 2 ER | 6 Hits | 2 BB | 3 K
• Aaron McIntyre (East Haven, Conn.) 1.1 IP | 1 Run | 1 ER | 2 Hits | 1 BB | 0 K
• Tyler Harger (W, 1-0) 2.1 IP | 2 Runs | 1 ER | 2 Hits | 1 BB | 2 K

Rivier

• Nolan Mederos 5.0 IP | 5 Runs | 4 ER | 3 Hits | 6 BB | 7 K
• Sam Kalivas 0.2 IP | 4 Runs | 0 ER | 2 Hits | 0 BB | 0 K
• Patrick Young 1.1 IP | 0 Runs | 0 ER | 1 Hit | 1 BB | 1 K
• Brendan Ferris 1.0 IP | 2 Runs | 2 ER | 2 Hits | 1 BB | 2 K
• Ty Baker (L, 0-1) 1.2 IP | 1 Run | 1 ER | 2 Hits | 1 BB | 1 K

AT THE PLATE

Albertus

• Tyler Czeremcha 2-for-5 | 2 Runs | 3 RBI
• Anthony Abate 2-for-4 | 3 Runs
• Vance Ward 1-for-4 | 2 BB | 1 Run | 2 RBI
• Eric Galarza 1-for-3 | 1 2B | 2 BB | 2 RBI | 1 Run

Rivier

• Alex Gallicano 3-for-4 | 1 RBI
• Luis Colon 2-for-6 | 1 run 1 RBI
• Luis Tejada 1-for-6 1 HR | 4 Runs | 1 RBI

NOTEWORTHY

• The win for Harger was the first of his career.
• The 12 runs for Albertus tied a season-high. The Falcons also scored 12 runs in an opening day win over King's (Pa.).
• Galarza has reached base safely in every game he's had a plate appearance this season.
• Czeremcha had his first multi-hit, multi-run and multi-RBI game of his career.
• Abate had his third multi-hit game of the season.
• Albertus is now 39-10 all-time against Rivier and 12 of the last 13 matchups.

UP NEXT

• The Falcons head to Coast Guard on Wednesday for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch.