The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team scored early and often, leading to a 12-6 victory over Caldwell College at Provident Bank Park. Mike Russo and Frank Salerno had three hits each as the Spartans won their seventh game in their last eight to improve to 16-7 overall, while Caldwell fell to 5-16.

STAC went on the attack early, stringing together seven runs on seven hits over the first three innings to build a comfortable lead. Salerno and Stanley Susana drove in runs before Mike Russo capped the first inning with a long homer to right, staking the hosts to a 3-0 lead. Susana added a two-run single in the second, and an Andrew Romanella RBI single gave the Spartans breathing room.

Starter Kevin Rentas breezed through three scoreless innings of work before hitting trouble in the fourth, allowing four runs on four hits to allow the Cougars back into the game. STAC responded with a run in the fourth and Rentas battled his way through a scoreless fifth before handing the ball to the bullpen.

Joe Grimaldi and Jon Scott would combine to allow two runs over the final four innings, while the Spartans would pull away with three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh. ECC Player-of-the-Week Rich Baerga - who went 6-for-6 in Monday's win over Bridgeport - continued to wield the hot bat with two hits, while Susana also added two hits and three RBI.

The Spartans return to action on Friday, April 5, when they host Molloy College for the first of a four-game conference series at Provident Bank Park, with first pitch set for 3:00 pm. The series continues with a twin-bill hosted by Molloy on Saturday, before returning to PBP for the finale at 1:00 Sunday.

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STAC's previous contest against Caldwell was March 14, during the Spartans Florida trip. That game was stopped after seven innings with STAC leading 10-9. While the game had been listed as completed, it was ruled as a suspended contest as it did not go nine innings, and the teams finished that contest before the start of today's scheduled game.

The Spartans took the victory by a final score of 13-10, however as Caldwell tied the score in the eighth, Kevin Rentas lost credit for the victory that he was in position for. Dan Diaz picked up the win in relief as STAC rallied for three runs in the eighth, with Susana accounting for the go-ahead hit, and Nick D'Angelo's two-run double opening up some insurance.