HAMDEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College baseball team split a doubleheader with Saint Joseph's College of Maine, dropping game one, 8-3 before defeating the Monks 11-10 in 11 innings in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader at Hamden High School on Saturday evening.
Eric Galarza (Bridgeport, Conn.) hit the walk-off single in the second game in the 11th inning. Joey O'Hara (Bethel, Conn.) hit a home run in game one and Mark Whittington (Meriden, Conn.) and Hunter Sincovic (Meriden, Conn.) each homered in game two.
Joshua Santiago (New Haven, Conn.) pitched 4.1 innings in scoreless relief, striking out three to earn the win in game two.
GAME 1
THE BASICS
FINAL: SJC 8 | Albertus 3
RECORDS: Albertus (4-6, 0-1 GNAC) | SJC (13-3, 1-0 GNAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Monks opened up the game with a leadoff home by Jared Wilhelm to stake them to a 1-0 lead.
- Albertus answered with a longball of its own in the bottom of the inning. Whittington singled with one out, followed by a double by Galarza before O'Hara launched his second home run of the season over the left field wall to put Albertus ahead, 3-1.
- SJC tied the game in the top of the second as a fielder's choice and an error on the same play off the bat of Wilhelm made it a 3-3 game. The Monks took the lead in the top of the third with a home run from Vinny O'Leary.
- After the bats went quiet between the two teams over the next three innings, SJC scored four runs in the top of the seventh as Wilhelm hit a double and Jake Carlisle and Nic Frink hit back-to-back homers to put SJC ahead, 8-3. The Falcons loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning but could not plate a run.
ON THE HILL
Albertus
Justin Feinstein (L, 2-1) 6.2 IP | 10 Hints | 8 Runs | 3 ER | 1 BB | 7 K
Joshua Santiago 0.1 IP | 0 Hits | 0 Runs | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K
SJC
William Dionne (W, 3-0) 7.0 IP | 3 Runs | 3 ER | 1 BB | 5 K
AT THE PLATE
Albertus
Joey O'Hara 1-for-3 | 1 HR | 3 RBI
Eric Galarza 1-for-3 | 1 2B
Mark Whittington 2-for-3 | 1 Run
SJC
Jared Wilhelm 2-for-3 | 1 HR | 1 2B | 2 Runs | 3 RBI
Jake Carlisle 2-for-4 | 1 HR | 1 Run | 2 RBI
Vinny O'Leary 2-for-4 | 1 HR | 1 2B | 1 Run | 1 RBI
Nic Frink 1-for-4 | 1 HR | 1 RBI
GAME 2
THE BASICS
FINAL: Albertus 11 | SJC 10
RECORDS: Albertus (5-6, 1-1 GNAC) SJC (13-4, 1-1 GNAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Falcons got four perfect innings from starter Peyton Thomas (Washington, Conn.) to start the game and the Falcons bats took a 3-0 lead as Sincovic hit a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the third. Two batters later Whittington hit a solo homer of his own to make it a 2-0 game. In the bottom of the fourth, an RBI single by Noah Grosso (Farmington, Conn.) put the Falcons up by three.
- In the top of the fifth, the Monks put up four runs, starting with a three-run homer by Nick Brindle to tie the game. A sacrifice fly from Wilhelm gave the Monks their first lead of the game.
- In the back and forth affair, the Falcons responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. After the Falcons loaded the bases, including singles from Robert Anton (Woodbury, Conn.) and Galarza, a walk to O'Hara tied the game. Two batters later, Baltazar Mesa (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) hit a two-run single to make it a 6-4 Albertus lead.
- Once again, SJC responded with two runs in the top of the sixth on a two-run triple by Brindle. The Falcons took the lead for the third time in the bottom of the inning as Galarza drove in another run with a single followed by a fielder's choice by O'Hara, making it an 8-6 game.
- The Monks scored four in the top of the seventh as a homerun by Jake Carlisle and an RBI triple by Dylan Brander highlighted the inning. Albertus closed the gap to one on an RBI single by Anton in the bottom of the seventh.
- In the ninth, the Falcons loaded the bases with no outs. A double play put runners on second and third. After a walk to Galarza, O'Hara was hit by a pitch to tie the game and send it in to extra innings.
- In the bottom of the 11th, Adriel Espada (Bridgeport, Conn.) was hit by a pitch to start the inning. After advancing on a wild pitch, Galarza ripped a single to right between the first and second baseman, allowing Espada to score and win the game.
ON THE HILL
Albertus
Peyton Thomas 5.0 IP | 6 Hits | 6 Runs | 5 ER | 3 BB | 2 K
Sam Granata 1.2 IP | 3 Hits | 4 Runs | 4 ER | 1 BB | 2 K
Joshua Santiago (W, 1-0) 4.1 IP | 2 Hits
SJC
Paul Donnelly 4.1 IP | 8 Hits | 6 Runs | 6 ER | 1 BB | 2 K
Nate Leavitt 1.2 IP | 4 Hits | 2 Runs | 2 ER | 1 BB | 0 K
Thomas O'Koniewski 1.0 IP | 3 Hits | 1 Run | 1 ER | 0 BB | 1 K
Henry Paquette 0.2 IP | 2 Hits | 0 Runs | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K
Ryan Thurber 2.0 IP | 1 Run |1 ER | 4 BB | 1 K
Kyle Notenboom (L, 0-1) 0.1 IP | 1 Hit | 1 Run | 1 ER | 1 BB | 0 K
AT THE PLATE
Albertus
Eric Galarza 3-for-6 | 1 Run | 2 RBI
Joey O'Hara 3 RBI
Baltazar Mesa 3-for-5 | 1 2B | 1 Run | 2 RBI
Hunter Sincovic 3-for-5 | 1 HR | 1 Run | 1 RBI
Mark Whittington 1-for-4 | 1 HR | 2 Runs | 1 RBI
Brayden Hastings 3-for-6
Robert Anton 3-for-5 | 3 Runs | 1 RBI
SJC
Nick Brindle 3-for-5 | 1 HR | 1 3B | 2 Runs | 5 RBI
Jake Carlisle 1-for-5 | 1 HR | 1 Run | 1 RBI
Dylan Brander 2-for-6 | 1 3B | 2 Runs | 1 RBI
UP NEXT
The Falcons host Norwich in a doubleheader at Hamden High School, beginning at 3 p.m. on Sunday
