The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team closed out their East Coast Conference regular season schedule with a 9-3 triumph at Queens College. The Spartans have won nine straight overall and 13 in a row in conference play, clinching the top seed. STAC is now 31-11 overall, 19-5 in conference, with Queens falling to 13-24, 8-12.

As they've done so often during their recent streak of 15-wins-in-16-games, the Spartans wasted little time grabbing a lead. Queens starter Peter Cappiello helped the cause, walking the first four batters, including Mike Russo, who got credit for an RBI. Ken Kirshner brought in another on a fielder's choice, but a twin-killing helped the hosts escape further damage.

Rich Baerga brought in Nick D'Angelo with a sac fly in the second, staking starting pitcher Eric Cooper to a 3-0 lead. The Knights drew near with a two run, four-hit outburst in the second, but STAC would quickly answer in the third.

Kirshner was a catalyst again, driving in Russo with an RBI double, and coming in on an Efrain Bautista grounder to make the score 5-2. The visitors would tack on insurance runs on a Russo run-scoring single in the fifth, and a Derek Hirsch sac fly in the sixth, opening the margin to 7-2.

Cooper turned the ball over after six solid innings, and relievers Nick May and Brian Tompkins combined to give up one run the rest of the way, as the Spartans would tack on a final pair in the top of the ninth on a Stanley Susana two-run homer.

Russo had two hits and increased his league-leading RBI total to 45, while Cooper improved to 2-3 with the win. Baerga and Nick Barbalato scored a pair of runs each, with Kirshner driving in a pair.

The Spartans will play their final four games of the regular season in non-conference action - all at Provident Bank Park - starting Tuesday, April 30 against Bloomfield College. They will host Concordia for a twin-bill on Friday, May 3, and wrap up against Dominican on Saturday, May 4.

ECC Standings (thru games of April 28 - Molloy @ Bridgeport in progress)

                                       W     L       Pct        GB   Gms Rem

ySt. Thomas Aquinas   19     5     .792     -----     0

Molloy College               12     7      .632      4.5       5

Dowling College            12     8      .600      5.0       4

Univ of Bridgeport         10     9      .526      6.5       5

Queens College             8    12      .400      9.0       4

LIU-Post                        6     14     .300     11.0      4

zMercy College              4     16     .200     12.5      4

y = clinched regular-season championship

x = clinched ECC Tournament berth

z = eliminated from ECC Tournament contention

Sunday 4/28

St. Thomas Aquinas 9, @ Queens 3

@ LIU-Post 4, Dowling 0

Molloy 8, @ Bridgeport 3

Molloy @ Bridgeport (game 2 in progress)

Mercy bye

Weekend of 5/2 (all four-game series)

St. Thomas Aquinas bye

LIU-Post vs Bridgeport

Dowling vs Mercy

Queens vs Molloy