Baseball Halves with Albertus Magnus in GNAC Opener

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass.—The Anna Maria College baseball team split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader with the Falcons of Albertus Magnus College, falling 3-2 in the opener before rallying for a 7-2 win in the nightcap.

With today's results, the AMCATS improve to 5-8 overall and 1-1 in GNAC play, while the Falcons are 4-6 overall and 1-1 in league action.

Albertus Magnus 3, Anna Maria 2

The AMCATS held a 2-0 lead entering the final inning, but Albertus Magnus rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh and staved off an AMCAT comeback in the bottom of the inning to claim their first GNAC win of the season.

Anna Maria held a 7-6 advantage in hits, led by freshman Jourdon Wydra (Bristol, Conn.) with two hits and an RBI. The AMCATS started scoring in the bottom of the first, as a double down the left field line by Corey Andrade (Mashpee, Mass.) scored David Julian (Sterling, Mass.), who had reached on a walk.

Three innings later, Julian scored again, this time batted in on a single down the right field line by Wydra. In the top of the fourth, Wydra made a monster catch in right field, tracking the ball all the way to the fence for the third out, stranding two Albertus Magnus baserunners.

In the top of the seventh, Albertus Magnus opened the inning with a walk. Following an AMCAT pitching change, the Falcons scored on a double by Nick Sedia (Bronx, N.Y.). Three batters later, Jordan Kubilus (Cheshire, Conn.) and Justin Poirier (Meriden, Conn.) hit back-to-back singles to bat in two more runs.

Anna Maria pitcher Matthew Leahey (Rutland, Mass.) pitched six strong innings and faced one batter in the seventh. He scattered three hits and took credit for one earned run while striking out 11 batters on the day. Freshman reliever Tanner Jakola (Leominster, Mass.) took the loss, giving up three hits and allowing two runs to cross the plate.

Mike Barillaro (Meriden, Conn.) went the distance for Albertus Magnus, scattering seven hits and a walk while striking out eight.

Anna Maria 7, Albertus Magnus 2

Anna Maria totaled nine hits to bat in seven runs in the nightcap, led by Andrade, Jonathan Roy (Worcester, Mass.), and Liam Pickett (Oxford, Mass.), who all totaled two hits each.

The AMCATS totaled four hits and scored three runs to take the lead in the bottom of the second. Following singles by Andrade and Leahey, Roy legged out a triple to score both. Roy would then score on a single by Pickett.

Albertus scored their two runs in the top of the third as Saia and Tyler Graziano (Trumbull, Conn.) walked and both scored on a single by Sedia.  

Anna Maria took a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the third and sealed the 7-2 final on a solo homerun by Nate Frederick (Worcester, Mass.) in the bottom of the fourth.

Sophomore Camden Frederick (Worcester, Mass.) went the distance on the mound, pitching a two-hitter with eight strikeouts. He gave up two earned runs and two walks on the day.

Ryan Fowler (Cheshire, Conn.) took the loss on the mound for the Falcons, pitching four innings and scattering eight hits, seven earned runs and two walks while striking out three.

The AMCATS will be back in action on Saturday for a 12:00 p.m. GNAC doubleheader at Lasell.