HAMDEN, Conn.- The Norwich baseball team opened Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a doubleheader against Albertus Magnus.

The Cadets were off and running in the first game, starting with an infield single for John O'Connor (Southington, Conn.). O'Connor would move to third after the following batter, Geffen Franus (Leesburg, Va.), got to second on a two-base error. A walk to Jakob Hayes (Arlington, Texas) would load the bases. Next hitter, Brock Carpenter (East Berlin, Pa.), pushed O'Connor home with an RBI fielder's choice to give Norwich the early advantage.

In the bottom half of the first, the Falcons would jump ahead with two runs of their own but were largely kept at bay by the left arm of Matt Ingraffia (Lake Grove, N.Y.) who only allowed one earned run in five innings of work, while striking out nine and walking three. With Albertus nursing a two-run lead in the sixth, Norwich would close the gap to one with back-to-back doubles by Franus and Hayes. The Falcons would break the game open with five runs in the seventh. Franus would add a sacrifice fly in the eighth to finish the opener one for three with an RBI and a run scored.

After Albertus opened game two with a solo home run to jump in front, Norwich answered in the top of the second on a two-run shot by Trevor Lussier (Lyndonville, Vt.) to take the lead, and would extend their advantage in the following inning. Things started with back-to-back base hits by O'Connor and Franus before a Carpenter double drove O'Connor home, and a Hayes sacrifice fly plated Franus to put the Cadets up 5-1.

After a two-run shot for Albertus to reduce their deficit to two, the Norwich bats continued to show up. They responded by pushing another run across with Franus scoring O'Connor in the fourth and got some insurance in the sixth. To lead off the frame, John Ringer (Cupertino, Calif.) singled, and Kevin Ohlsen (Shirley, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch. After each runner moved up a station on a wild pitch, Franus singled in Ringer, and Carpenter brought home Ohlsen on a sacrifice fly. In total, Franus and Lussier went three for four at the dish in game two with two RBI each, while Carpenter went two for three with two RBI.

The Falcons was chances to tie the game but were kept off the scoreboard in the final three innings by Jordan Talbot (Belchertown, Mass.) who only allowed two hits in his three innings of work to lock down the 8-5 win for the Cadets and record the save.

Norwich will continue GNAC competition Sunday afternoon when they travel to Mitchell with first pitch scheduled for 12 PM.