Matt Marotta tossed eight strong innings, allowing just three runs (two earned) to earn the win for the St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team over Southern New Hampshire in the opener, 4-3. The Spartans were outgunned in the back half, falling 12-1 at Provident Bank Park. SNHU took three of the four games in the weekend series on the heels of their sweep on Saturday. With today's split, STAC (ranked #8 in the East Region NCBWA poll) now stands at 11-7 overall while the Penmen (ranked #1 in the region) come in at 16-2.
Marotta allowed just three hits over his eight innings against the hard-hitting SNHU crew to improve to 3-0, while the two earned runs increased his season ERA to 0.85. Joe DePool closed out the ninth to take his fourth save, while Joe Antenucci went 2-for-2 with two RBI to pace the offensive attack.
In the nightcap, the teams engaged in a 1-1 duel through four innings of play before the visitors broke things open with seven runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth. Frank Salerno had two hits in three at-bats to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, and Salerno has also reached safely in each of the 18 Spartan contests this season.
After scoring just one run in the two games on Saturday, the Spartans came out firing in the very first inning on Sunday. With two out and nobody on, Antenucci walked, George Wargo singled him to third and promptly stole second, setting the table. Andrew Hancsak would cash in with a two-run single to give STAC its first lead. They tacked on another in the third off SNHU starter Brad Monroe, as Antenucci's single brought home Nick Barbalato, who had tripled to deep right-center.
Southern hit the board with a run in the fifth when Bryan Toland's two-out single brought in Andy Lalli, but the Spartans would quickly answer in the bottom half as another Antenucci hit scored Salerno to make the score 4-1. The Penmen chipped away with an unearned run in the sixth when when a Stanley Susana error opened the door for a sac fly by Matt Boulter, plating Kevin Spatkowski.
Jamie Wollerman's solo blast to lead off the fifth created some anxious moments in trimming the margin to 4-3, but Marotta would be unfazed as it was the third and last hit he would yield through his eight innings of work. Joe DePool came on looking to close out his third save of the week and fourth of the season, and in spite of some early wildness he buckled down to fan the final two batters and secure the victory.
The tension continued to build in game two as the visitors broke on top in the first of STAC's Eric Cooper, thanks to another Boulter sac fly. The Spartans would respond quickly in the bottom half, as Salerno reached on an error and came around to score on a Wargo single.
The score would remain deadlocked through four, but the Penmen would end the drama in a seven-run fifth inning, with Boulter's triple driving in two and Toland adding two more with a single. SNHU would tack on four more in the sixth off the Spartan bullpen in cruising to the split. Junior Mendez worked six strong innings for Southern New Hampshire to earn the victory while Cooper fell to 0-1 in the setback. Among the few bright spots in game two, Salerno's single in the third extended his hitting streak to 12 games and he has now reached base safely in all 18 St. Thomas Aquinas games this season - 24 in a row in total dating back to the end of the 2011 campaign.
The Spartans return to Provident Bank Park this Wednesday, March 21, when they host rival Dominican College in a 3:00 pm start. They then travel to Caldwell College on Thursday, March 22, before returning home to begin their East Coast Conference schedule with a twin-bill against Dowling College at PBP on Saturday, March 24 with first pitch set for noon.
Remember, if you can't make it out to the park to root the Spartans on in person, you can keep track of every home game in real time with our Live Stats feature! Just click on the Live Stats link on the team's schedule page.