HAMDEN, Conn. - The Alberts Magnus College baseball team lost a 19-10 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game to Johnson and Wales University (JWU) on Sunday afternoon at Hamden Hall Country Day School.

Elijah Spataj (Cheshire, Conn.) was 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run. Eric Galarza (Bridgeport, Conn.) was 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run and King Rivera (Bridgeport, Conn.) was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.

Anthony Abate (Naugatuck, Conn.) hit his first career homer for the Falcons.

THE BASICS

FINAL: Johnson and Wales 19 | Albertus Magnus 10

RECORDS: Albertus (3-8, 0-2 GNAC) | JWU (9-8, 2-0 GNAC)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons found themselves in a hole early as the Wildcats scored nine runs in the first inning. Xavier Botelho drove in three runs on a bases loaded double and an error in the outfield off the bat from Jack Obert with the bases loaded allowed another three runs to score.
• JWU scored two more in the third on an RBI double by Trevor Juan, but the Falcons were finally able to break through in the bottom of the inning as Abate's home run put them on the board with a solo homer.
• With the Falcons trailing 12-1 heading to the bottom of the fourth, they rallied for six runs in the inning. Three consecutive singles by Galarza, Shawn Smith (Shelton, Conn.) and Eddy Garabito (Norwalk, Conn.) led to a run and three batters later Rivera hit an RBI single to plate Smith. After an error off the bat of Vance Ward (Norwalk, Conn.) led to another run, Spataj ripped a single to right field to score two runs to make it a 12-6 game. The final run in the inning came from a balk, making it a 12-7 game.
• The Wildcats scored three runs in the top of the sixth, but Albertus matched them in the bottom of the inning as Spataj had an RBI single followed by a two-run single by Galarza to make it a 15-10 game.
• JWU added four more runs in the top of the ninth to put the game away.

ON THE HILL

Albertus

Kevin Pascual (Norwalk, Conn.) (L, 0-3) 9 Runs | 5 ER | 3 Hits | 3 BB | 1 K

Riley Corgan (New Milford, Conn.) 5.1 IP | 6 Runs | 4 ER | 8 Hits | 1 BB | 5 K

Tyler Baldwin (Cromwell, Conn.) 2.1 IP | 4 Runs | 2 ER | 1 Hit | 2 BB | 1 K

Nathan Rivera (Windsor, Conn.) 0.2 IP | 0 Runs | 0 ER | 0 Hits 1 BB | 0 K

JWU

Max Randazzo 3.1 IP | 6 Runs | 2 ER | 6 Hits | 1 BB | 3 K

Joaquin Cardoso (W, 2-0) 2.2 IP | 4 Runs | 4 ER | 5 Hits | 0 BB | 2 K

Brady Morun 2.0 IP | 0 Runs | 0 ER | 2 Hits | 0 BB | 0 K

Garrett Fusco 1.0 IP | 0 Runs | 0 ER | 0 Hits | 0 BB | 2 K

AT THE PLATE

Albertus

Elijah Spataj 3-for-5 | 3 RBI | 1 Run

Eric Galarza 2-for-5 | 2 RBI | 1 Run

King Rivera 3-for-4 | 1 RBI | 2 Runs

Anthony Abate 1 HR

JWU

Xavier Botelho 3-for-5 | 2 2B | 3 Runs | 3 RBI

Ryan Ducey 3-for-6 | 1 2B | 4 Runs | 1 RBI

Jeff Valdez Jimenez 1-for-4 | | 2BB | 3 Runs | 1 RBI

NOTEWORTHY

Spataj now has a nine-game hitting streak as well as a seven-game RBI streak. He is currently tied for the GNAC lead with 19 RBI.

UP NEXT

The Falcons head to the United States Coast Guard Academy Bears on Wednesday, March 26 at 3:30 p.m.