The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team dropped the opener 3-2, but took the nightcap by a 10-5 margin at Diamond Nation in Flemington, NJ. STAC took two of three in the weekend set between the regionally ranked opponents in the first games of the season for both teams.

After a 2-1 STAC win in 11 innings in the opener on Friday, both teams picked up where they left off in a tight opener on Sunday. The Spartans struck first in the top of the opening frame, as CJ Ferriggi's single brought in Nick Barbalato and Stanley Susana. The Wildcats would battle back to even the score in the last of the fourth, plating a pair of runs off STAC starter Joe DePool, the only runs he would allow in six strong innings of work.

Wilmington would go ahead in the last of the eighth, stringing a pair of hits together against reliever Nick May and the Cats would hold on in the ninth to earn the decision. Ferriggi posted two hits to pace the STAC attack, Dan Diaz worked a scoreless inning of relief, and May was tagged with the loss.

In the nightcap, the Spartans would again strike in the first, with a Mike Russo double bringing in Barbalato, before WU tied the score with a run off Rob Frank in the bottom half. STAC would add two more in the third, with yet another Russo double again plating Barbalato, before Wilmington answered witn one in the bottom half to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Spartan bats would come alive with two in the fifth and five in the sixth to blow the game open at 10-2. Stanley Susana hit a turf-aided two-run homer in the fifth, and Efrain Bautista sparked the rally in the sixth by knocking in a pair with a double to open a comfortable lead. The Wildcats battled back with three in the sixth, but Brian Tompkins would throw a scoreless final frame to seal the deal.

Frank worked five solid innings, allowing just two runs, to pick up the win, with STAC pitchers combining to allow just three hits on the game. The Spartans belted out 11 hits in gaining their second win of the young season.

St. Thomas Aquinas will return to action when they take on Nyack College on Friday, March 1 before completing the three-game series in a Home Opening twin-bill at Provident Bank Park on Saturday, March 2. First pitch for Saturday's double is set for 1:00 pm.