Staten Island, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team opened the East Coast Conference portion of its schedule with an exciting 12-10 victory over the College of Staten Island on Friday at the CSI Baseball Complex.

The Spartans scored seven runs in the top of the ninth inning to pull off the come from behind victory and improve to 7-12 overall and 1-0 ECC play, while the host Dolphins fell to 6-9 and 0-1 ECC.

How it Happened

• CSI opened the scoring in the first inning with three runs via a 2 RBI double by Pat Gardner, followed by Shendi Ulaj coming to the plate on a wild pitch.
• In the second inning, STAC answered back to tie the game at 3-3, as first a Danny Di Marzo single scored Gregory DiGiaro. Then Kyle Lagrutta reached via a fielder's choice with Di Marzo scoring on a throwing error. Finally, Sean Lynch scampered on home courtesy of a wild pitch.
• The Dolphins retook the lead in the bottom of the frame when Domenick Castiglion reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Bryan Birkhead to go up 4-3.
• St. Thomas Aquinas knotted the game at 4-4 in the sixth on a Christopher Conti RBI single, bringing Andrew Guerra around to score.
• Once again Staten Island battled to regain the lead, this time in the seventh inning via a pair of doubles by Pat Gardner and Steven Collica and a two-run homer by Cippoletti to make it 8-4.
• Danny Di Marzo answered back with a home run of his own in the eighth to cut the deficit to 8-5.
• Staten Island scored what they thought at the time were insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, as first Thomas Marten reached on an error, scoring Bryan Birkhead and then Steven Collica singled to bring home Marten, making it 10-5.
• STAC pulled off the impressive comeback in the ninth, scoring seven in the frame to take a 12-10 advantage. Matthew Johnson got things started with an RBI single, scoring Andrew Jemison. Then Sean Lynch reached first base on error, with Eric Volpi coming around to score. A wild pitch brought home the next run, courtesy of Andrew Guerra to put the score at 10-8.
• C.J. Cumbo's two RBI single plated both Sean Lynch and Paul DeVito to tie the game at 10-10.
• Andrew Jemison's two RBI double snapped the stalemate, as Christopher Conti and C.J. Cumbo crossed the plate to complete the rally, giving St. Thomas Aquinas the 12-10 lead.
• CSI would have one final chance to even the score and either walkoff or force extra innings. Fortunately, Justin Baeyens would come on and work in and out of trouble to pick up his third save of the season.

Top STAC Performances

• Danny Di Marzo picked up two hits in five at-bats, smacking a home run, while recording two RBI and two runs scored.
• Andrew Jemison went 2-for-6 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and a run scored.
• Andrew Guerra and Matthew Johnson each posted two hits for the Spartans on the afternoon.
• Aaron Dona (No-Decision) 6.0 innings, 6 Hits, 4 Runs, 5 Walks, 5 Strikeouts.
• Yanni Orfanidis, Orin Winslow, Mateo Reyes and Justin Baeyens combined to throw three innings in relief, giving up 7 hits and 6 runs (5 earned), while walking 3 and fanning 3.
• Mateo Reyes (2-0) earns his second win of the year, pitching 0.2 inning and only surrendering a hit, while K-ing one.
• Justin Baeyens (Save) hurled one inning, giving up a pair of hits to earn his third save of the campaign.

Next Game

STAC wraps up the three-game series with Staten Island, hosting a doubleheader on Saturday, March 26 at Clover Stadium. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Pomona, with game two to get underway at approximately 6:00 p.m.