Frank Salerno's RBI single keyed an eighth-inning rally as the St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team won its fourth straight game and sixth in its last seven, downing Bloomfield College, 8-6, in Lake Worth, Florida. The Spartans have won the first two games on their six-game southern swing. STAC improved to 6-4 on the season by winning its second contest over the Deacons, with the last being a 6-4 win on February 28 at Provident Bank Park. Bloomfield, which had won three of its previous four, slipped to 4-7 overall.
The teams exchanged runs in the first, with Bloomfield posting an unearned marker and the Spartans answering on a Joe Antenucci sac fly in the bottom of the frame. The Deacons came out firing in the second inning, recording four runs on four hits and knocking STAC starter Tim Tedesco out of the box. The Spartan pen would allow just one unearned run over the next 7.1 innings, allowing the offense to battle its way back into the contest.
STAC posted a run in the third on an Andrew Hancsak grounder, scoring Nick Barbalato, and added three more in the fourth to knot the score at 5-5. Barbalato's bases-jammed walk forced in Christian Santo with one run, and an infield error allowed to others across. Bloomfield would regain the lead on an unearned run of their own in the sixth, but St. Thomas Aquinas would not be denied, staging late-game heroics in the last of the eighth.
Matt Marotta got the ball rolling with a single, and Andrew Romanella's sacrifice attempt was badly misplayed, with two errors allowing Marotta to score from first. Frank Salerno and George Wargo would come up with RBI singles in the inning staking STAC to its first lead of the day. Joe DePool would earn the save with a perfect ninth, preserving the win for Robert Frank, who took home the win with four stellar innings of relief, allowing just one unearned run on two hits. David Martinez was tagged with the loss in relief for the Deacons.
The Spartans play game three of their Sunshine State Six on Sunday, March 11 against Felician College, against whom STAC posted a 10-9 triumph in their first game on Thursday. The swing continues on Monday, March 12 against American International College and winds up on March 14, after which the team will return north to host Southern New Hampshire University in a pair of twin-bills at Provident Bank Park on Saturday and Sunday, March 17 and 18. Both double-headers are scheduled to start at 12:00 noon.
Please note - Sunday's game vs. Felician will be available on Live Stats. Just check the schedule page and click on the Live Stats link to follow the Spartans in Florida in real time!