The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team captured an 8-7 victory over Shepherd University in the final game of the Dinwiddie Invitational in Virginia. STAC belted out 12 hits to improve to 3-1 overall, with Shepherd falling to 4-4.

STAC, who moved up to the #3 slot in the East in this week's NCBWA regional poll, locked up with their opponents from West Virginia through three scoreless frames before breaking through in the 4th.

Nick Gargan's RBI double capped a four-hit, three run inning for the Spartans, but SU would rally for a single run in the bottom half and three more in the next inning to grab a 4-3 lead. Wasting little time in responding, St. Thomas Aquinas quickly regained the lead in the visiting 6th with a four-run outburst.

Rich Cesca, Jr., knotted the score with a leadoff homer, and two batters later Gargan went deep to put the Spartans back on top. Michael Morgan later came through with an RBI single and scored on Joseph Pena's sac fly, and STAC tacked on another on a 7th inning Giovanni Dingcong homer to snag an 8-4 edge.

Shepherd battled back with a run in the bottom of the 7th and two in the 9th, but with the winning runs in scoring position, STAC was able to hold on for the victory.

Gargan had three hits while Pena, Greg Dawber, and Dingcong added two each, while Sam Vincenzo worked five innings to take the win.

The Spartans are now off until Friday, when they will head south again, this time to North Carolina. Their four weekend games include tilts Friday and Sunday against West Virginia State, sandwiching a pair on Saturday against Clairon and Fairmont State.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information

- Photo by Dorice Arden