The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team saw its 2013 season get off to a thrilling start with a 2-1 comeback victory over Wilmington University at Diamond Nation in Flemington, NJ. Frank Salerno's walk-off single plated the game-winner in the season opener for both squads.

Both Wilmington and St. Thomas Aquinas were ranked in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association pre-season poll, with the Wildcats ranked fourth and STAC close behind at number seven.

Fittingly, the contest was a hard-fought battle throughout, with Wilmington breaking through with just one run over 6.1 innings against Spartan starter Eric Cooper. Freshman Mike Donellan would come on to toss 1.2 innings of scoreless releif but that 1-0 lead would hold until the bottom of the eighth inning, when newcomer Ken Kirschner doubled home the tying run in his first game in a STAC uniform.

C.J. Ferriggi tossed more blanks from the Spartans pen, keeping the game deadlocked through the visitors' half of the 11th, when STAC scratched out the winner. Andrew Romanella got the ball rolling after being hit by a pitch and advanced to second on an error. Salerno, the East Coast Conference's Player-of-the-Year in 2012, picked up where he left off, ending the contest with a walk-off single. In addition to the pitching prowess, the Spartans were aided by errorless defense.

These regional foes will not have to wait long to renew acquiantences, as they will square off in a twin-bill on Sunday, February 24, starting at noon at Diamond Nation. The Spartans are then slated to visit Nyack College on Friday, March 1 before playing their home opener, a twin-bill against Nyack on Saturday, March 2 at Provident Bank Park starting at 1:00 pm.