Stanley Susana went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored to lead the St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team to a 5-1 victory over St. Michael's College in Lake Worth, Florida. Frank Salerno, coming off his East Coast Conference Player-of-the-Week honors, also chipped in with a 3-for-3 performance. The Spartans return home having won all six games on their Florida swing and extended their winning streak to eight overall, as their record improved to 10-4. With the loss, the Purple Knights fell to 3-3 on the season.
The Spartans struck first in the bottom of the second as Susana led off with a bunt single, advanced on an error by St. Michael's third baseman George Buteau, and scored on a Mike Russo single up the middle. Susana would be in the middle of things again in the third, as his two out double off starter Harry Klein brought in Salerno, who had reached on a leadoff single.
STAC starter Eric Cooper cruised through the first three innings without allowing a hit, but the Purple Knights would pose a threat in the fourth. A Jacob Begnoche walk preceded a Chadwick Estey single, breaking up the no-hitter and putting two on with none out. The sophomore lefty would be unfazed, however, retiring the next three batters in order, two by strikeout, to quell the uprising and end his outing for the day with just one hit allowed in four innings of work.
St. Thomas Aquinas would tack on another in the bottom half, once again with two men out. An infield hit by Salerno plated Russo, who had reached on his second hit of the day, to put the Spartans up by a three-spot. St. Michael's would fare better against Tom Enright, who took the hill for STAC in the fifth. An Alec Tice single with two down would get the Purple Knights on the board, with Don McGuirl coming around to cut the deficit to two.
It would take little time for the Spartans to respond, as a Joe Antenucci single and a double by Susana provided a quick answer, though Klein worked out of trouble to prevent the lead from expanding. St. Michael's would threaten again in the seventh but come up empty. as STAC reliever Tom Tedesco - who retired the side in the sixth on just six pitches - saw an error and two singles load the bases with just one out, but he rebounded to fan Tice and Begnoche (on a 3-2 count) to escape the jam.
The Spartans would add insurance in the last of the eighth, as an Alex Genao sac fly brought in Andrew Hancsak to provide the final margin of victory. Ken Frawley and Jon Scott would close the door, retiring the side in the final two frames to secure STAC's 10th win in its last 11 games. Enright was credited with the win in relief to improve to 1-1 while Klein was tagged with the loss for SMC to fall to 0-1.
With a successful Florida trip in the rearview mirror, the Spartans 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 and all the action will be available in real time on Live Stats. The weekend set kicks off a string of seven of the next eight games at home, which continues on Wednesday, March 21 against Dominican College and includes the East Coast Conference opener against Dowling College on Saturday, March 24.