Pomona, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team took the opener of a three-game ECC series from Mercy College, on the strength of a nine-run first inning, 15-4 on Friday afternoon at Clover Stadium. 

STAC improved to 15-18 overall and 8-5 in conference play, while Mercy fell to 15-19-1 and 8-5. The Spartan victory propelled them into a third place tie in the ECC standings with the Mavericks.

How it Happened

• St. Thomas Aquinas put up an offensive barrage in the first inning, scoring nine runs.
• Matthew Johnson's RBI single to center field, scored Andrew Jemison to make it 1-0 STAC.
• A three-run homer over the short porch wall in right field by Gregory DiGiaro, brought teammates Jemison and Matthew Johnson to the plate, increasing the lead to 4-0.
• Billy Minett's RBI double to left center, allowed Kyle Lagrutta to score, giving the Spartans a 5-0 advantage.
• STAC took a 6-0 lead on Christopher Conti's RBI single to left field, bringing home Danny Di Marzo.
• A fielding error by the Mavericks, allowed Nick O'Connor to reach first base and advanced Billy Minett to the plate to put the Spartans up by a touchdown and an extra point, 7-0.
• Matt Johnson's RBI single through the left side with the bases loaded forced Conti home to make it 8-0.
• The final run of the frame came via a Gregory DiGiaro's sacrifice fly to left field, with O'Connor coming in to score and giving STAC a 9-0 lead.
• In the third inning, the hosts scored twice more, as first Andrew Jemison's RBI triple to right center field, scored Christopher Conti. Then Matthew Johnson's sac-fly to center field, brought Jemison to the plate to increase the Spartan lead to 11-0.
• Billy Minett's RBI single, scored Danny Di Marzo in the fourth to give STAC a dozen runs at 12-0.
• Mercy broke the shutout in the top of the seventh on an RBI infield single to make it 12-1.
• St. Thomas Aquinas plated two additional runs in the bottom of the stanza on a Mercy fielding error with Andrew Jemison reaching first base and pinch-runner David Potenza scoring, followed by Matt Johnson's sacrifice fly, scoring Nick O'Connor. The maroon and gold increased its lead to 14-1.
• The final Spartan run came via a David Potenza RBI single to left center field, with Arthur Xanthos scoring to make it 15-1.
• Mercy scored three runs in the ninth on an RBI groundout, single through the left side and a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 11 at 15-4, but would get no closer.

Top STAC Performances

• Gregory DiGiaro had two hits in four at-bats, including a home run. He also picked up four RBI and a run scored.
• Andrew Jemison went 2-for-3 on the afternoon with a triple, RBI and two runs scored.
• Matthew Johnson registered two hits in three tries for the Spartans, and drove in four runs.
• Nick O'Connor (2-5), Billy Minett (2-4) and Christopher Conti (3-4) all registered multiple hits in the contest.
• Aaron Dona got the start for the Spartans and hurled seven brilliant innings, picking up his second win of the season (2-3). Dona only surrendered three hits and a run, while walking one and striking out six.
• Matthew Polemeni and Vincent McDermott saw time out of the bullpen in the eighth and ninth innings, combining to give up three hits and three runs. The duo also walked two and fanned four.

Up Next

• STAC heads to Dobbs Ferry to continue the conference series, playing two with Mercy on Saturday, April 23. First pitch of game one of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.