After dropping two straight, the St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team answered with a vengeance, topping rival Dominican College, 19-5. Joe Antenucci led the onslaught with 6-for-7, scoring five runs, while Stanley Susana added four hits and six RBI. George Wargo also added four hits and drove in three. STAC now stands at 23-12 overall, while Dominican's season mark falls to 12-20.
Things got off to a rocky start in the bottom of the first, as Dominican's Tony Blake hit a three-run homer off starter Tim Tedesco to put the hosts on top. STAC rallied to tie it in the third off Charger pitcher Victor Cosme on RBI singles by Antenucci and Wargo, and a run-scoring double by Mike Russo. Dominican answered with another long-ball in the bottom half, as Andrew Carmadella's two-run shot made it 5-3 after three.
It was all Spartans thereafter, as they scored in every remaining inning. STAC reclaimed the lead for good in the fourth as Salerno scored on an error, Antenucci tripled a run home and Wargo singled in another. An RBI triple from Susana and a run-scoring grounder from Salerno widened the gap to 8-5 after five.
A pair of Charger errors in the sixth - they committed nine on the day - led to three more Spartan markers and the rout was on, as Tedesco settled in to allow no runs over his final three frames and the run support led to an 11-5 margin. Wargo would single home another in the seventh, and Susana brought in two more with a hit. STAC piled on four more in the eighth, keyed by Susana's second triple of the day, which brought in three more tallies.
Another unearned run in the ninth accounted for the final score, but the larger order of business was Antenucci, who had hits in all of his six at bats entering his final chance. He would fly out to end the inning, but with an incredible day still in the books.
Tedesco improved to 2-3 with the win, while Cosme fell to 1-4 for Dominican, as seven Charger pitchers were victimized by their fielders to the tune of 12 unearned runs. Salerno added two hits and two stolen bases to STAC's impressive performance.
Schedule note - Friday's scheduled non-conference game against Queens College at Provident Bank Park has been canceled.
The Spartans will enjoy the bye weekend in East Coast Conference play, and return to action for a non-league tilt when Caldwell College pays a visit to Provident Bank Park on Sunday, April 15 in a noon start. They will travel to Brookhaven on Wednesday, April 18 to complete the ECC season series with Dowling (STAC leads, 3-0), and be back at PBP on Friday the 20th when Dowling comes in for a non-conference meeting.