The St. Thomas Aquinas Baseball team came up short in its first NCAA Tournament appearance, falling to Pace University at Southern New Hampshire. STAC now plays Wilmington U at 11:00 am Friday. The Spartans remain alive in the double-elimination tournament though their season record falls to 39-13 with Pace improving to 33-15.

Seeded #2 in the East Region, the Spartans fell behind early against the #5 seeded Setters. With one out in the top of the first, Charlie Galasso reached on an error by STAC's Frank Salerno, and Pace would cash in. Starter Rob Frank then hit James Pjura to put two on, and after a fly out, RBI singles by Joe Solomeno and Ian Wukitsch provided a two run lead.

Frank would settle in, allowing just a lone run in the fourth over the rest of his eight-inning stint, but that would be more than enough for Pace starter Jonathan Chudy. The left-handed sophomore would go the distance, scattering eight Spartan hits while walking two and strking out four.

Nick Barbalato had three hits for STAC with Stanley Susana adding two, but it would not be enough to push any runs across. Frank allowed nine hits and just one earned run, fanning six and walking one.

The Spartans will take on #1 seed Wilmington on Friday at 11:00 am, after the Wildcats' 7-0 loss to #6 Franklin Pierce. If STAC wins, they will play Saturday at 3:00 pm; should they lose the will be elminiated from the tournament.