Spartans Drop Twin-Bill at NYIT, Eliminated from ECC Tournament Contention

Spartans Drop Twin-Bill at NYIT, Eliminated from ECC Tournament Contention

The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team dropped an East Coast Conference double-header at New York Institute of Technology, 14-6 and 7-3. The Spartans are now 18-26 overall on the season and 10-16 in the ECC, while NYIT now stands at 28-12, 19-7. With the loss in game one, STAC is officially eliminated for ECC Tournament contention.

With their season hanging in the balance, the Spartans bolted from the gate with five runs in the top of the first, with Jared Vanderhoof providing a three-run triple, and Dylan Klock and Jonathan Cepeda adding RBI hits. That momentum was short-lived, however, as the Bears cut into the deficit with two runs in the first and jumped ahead with four more in the second.

STAC tied the score at 6-6 on an unearned run in the fourth, but the hosts quickly answered, stringing together four hits to plate three runs and grab a 9-6 advantage. Three more runs in the sixth and two more in the eighth closed out the scoring, as Jon Cepeda led the Spartans' offense with three hits and Chris Allegretti was tagged with the loss in relief.

In game two, St. Thomas Aquinas scored in the top of the first on a double-play grounder but NYIT evened the score with a run in the bottom half. The same pattern held in the third as Michael Morgan singled home Vanderhoof for a 2-1 lead only to see the Bears tie it in their turn. NYIT took the lead for good with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth, though a solo homer from Morgan in the sixth narrowed the gap to 5-3. 

Tech added two more in the seventh and that was more than enough for starter DJ Masuck, who tossed a complete game to improve to 9-1 on the season, while Alex Mack started and took the loss for St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Spartans close out the 2019 season with a noon Saturday double-header at Palisades Credit Union Park, with Senior Day festivities kicking things off.