AUBURNDALE, FL. - The Albertus Magnus College baseball team split two games on Wednesday down at the RussMatt Florida Invitational. The Falcons defeated Penn State-Brandywine, 14-8 before falling to Gwynedd Mercy, 14-7.

Eric Galarza (Bridgeport, Conn.) was 6-for-8, including a double and a triple on the day including four runs and driving in six runs.

Joey O'Hara (Bethel, Conn.) was 5-for-10, including a double with three runs and three RBI. Mark Whittington (Meriden, Conn.) had four hits, including a double with four runs and three RBI. Noah Grosso (Farmington, Conn.) had three runs with three runs and an RBI on the day.

Jack Angelo (East Haven, Conn.) got the win in relief in the first game, pitching seven innings and striking out five. 

GAME 1 vs. Penn State Brandywine

THE BASICS

FINAL: Albertus 14 | PSU-Brandywine 8

RECORDS: Albertus (2-2) | PSU-Brandywine (4-6)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After both teams went scoreless in the first inning, the Falcons loaded the bases in the top of the second inning with two outs but a fielder's choice ended the inning. Brandywine responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning, drawing two bases loaded walks and scoring twice on a wild pitch.
• Albertus got on the board with a run each in both the third and fourth innings. Galarza had a sacrifice fly that scored Adriel Espada (Bridgeport, Conn.) who led off the third with a single. Gio Morales (Manchester, Conn.) added an RBI single in the fourth.
• In the bottom of the third, Angelo got into a bases loaded jam with no outs but was able to retire the next three batters without allowing a run.
• Albertus erupted for five runs in the top of the fifth inning to take its first lead of the game. Espada began the inning reaching on an error and stole two bases. After a walk to Whittington, Galarza ripped a triple to center field to  score both runners and tie the game, 4-4. O'Hara and Baltazar Mesa (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) each added an RBI single and the Falcons tacked on one more run to take a 7-4 lead.
• Brandywine got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, but Galarza hit a two-run double in the top of the sixth, giving Albertus a 9-5 lead.
• The Lions trimmed the lead to two one more time in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run single by Ryan Snyder.
• Albertus shut the door in the top of the eighth, scoring five runs. Whittington hit an RBI double to drive in Espada. An error and a bases loaded walk plated two more runs and Mesa hit an RBI single to make it a 13-7 game. Grosso then added a sacrifice fly for his first RBI of his career.
• The Lions added one more run in the bottom of the eighth.

ON THE HILL

Albertus

Nathan Rivera (Windsor, Conn.) 2.0 IP | 0 Hits | 4 Runs | 4 ER | 6 BB | 0 K

Jack Angelo (W, 1-0) 7.0 IP | 8 Hits | 4 RUns | 2 ER | 2 BB | 5 K

Penn State- Brandywine

Jackson Messick 4 IP | 4 Hits | 2 Runs | 2 ER | 3 BB | 3 K

Will Gallagher (L, 0-1) 1.0 IP | 3 Hits | 5 Runs | 3 ER | 1 BB | 0 K

Josh Reil | 2.0 IP | 3 Hits | 5 Runs | 3 ER | 1 BB | 1 K

Josh Johnson 1.0 IP | 1 Hit | 2 RUns | 1 ER | 2 BB | 1 K

Jack Johnston 1.0 IP | 1 Hit | 0 Runs | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K

AT THE PLATE

Albertus

Eric Galarza 3-for-4 | 1 2B | 1 3B | 2 Runs | 5 RBI

Adriel Espada 1-for-4 | 3 SB | 3 Runs

Joey O'Hara 2-for-5 | 2 Runs | 1 RBI | 1 SB

Baltazar Mesa 2-for-5 | 2 Runs | 2 RBI

Mark Whittington 1-for-5 | 1 2B | 3 Runs | 1 RBI | 1 SB

Penn State-Brandywine

Jason Hankins 1-for-3 | 1 3B | 2 Runs

Ryan Snyder 1-for-4 | 1 Run | 2 RBI

GAME 2 vs. Gwynedd Mercy

THE BASICS

FINAL: Gwynedd Mercy 14 | Albertus 8

RECORDS: Albertus (2-3) | Gwynedd-Mercy (6-3)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Griffins took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first before the Falcons answered with two of their own in the bottom of the inning courtesy of a two-run single from O'Hara.
• The two teams exchanged a pair of runs in the second inning. In the top of the inning an RBI single from Chris Nodeland highlighted the inning for the Griffins before the Falcons answered with RBI singles from Whittington and Galarza to take a 4-3 lead.
• The Griffins took a 7-4 lead after scoring two runs in both the third and fourth innings. The Falcons got a run back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Alex Perez (Meriden, Conn.) to plate O'Hara, who doubled.
• Gwynedd Mercy scored a run in the top of the sixth and five more in the seventh highlighted by an RBI triple from Deven Ross and a two-run double by Nodeland. The Falcons added one more run in the bottom of the seventh and one more in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Whittington.

ON THE HILL

Albertus

Adam Virginelli (North Branford, Conn.) (L, 0-1) 4 IP | 6 Hits | 7 Runs | 4 ER | 4 BB | 3 K

Joshua Santiago (New Haven, Conn.) 3.0 IP | 7 Hits | 6 Runs | 6 ER | 3 BB | 2 K

Sean Croken (Somers, Conn.) 2.0 IP | 2 Hits | 1 Run | 1 ER | 2 BB | 3 K

Gwynedd-Mercy

Landon Glovas 4.2 IP | 8 Hits | 5 Runs | 3 ER | 1 BB | 2 K

Dylan Ganey (W, 1-1) 2.1 IP | 4 Hits | 1 Run | 0 ER | 0 BB | 1 K

Kevin King 2.0 IP | 3. Hits | 1 Run | 1 ER | 0 BB | 1 K

AT THE PLATE

Albertus

Mark Whittington 3-for-5 | 1 Run | 2 RBI

Eric Galarza 3-for-4 | 1 2B | 2 Runs | 1 RBI

Joey O'Hara 3-for-5 | 1 2B | 1 Run | 2 RBI

Noah Grosso 2-for-4 | 2 Run

Alex Perez 2-for-5 | 1 RBI

Gwynedd Mercy

Chris Nodeland 3-for-4 | 1 2B | 1 Run | 4 RBI

Deven Ross 2-for-5 | 1 3B | 2 Runs | 3 RBI

Charlie Neal 2-for-4 | 1 2B | 3 Runs | 1 RBI

Noah Waldron 2-for-6 | 1 3B | 2 Runs

NOTEWORTHY

Galarza has 11 hits over the first five games this season to go with 11 RBI.

Espada has extended his hitting streak to 13 games dating back to last season.