The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team continues its quest for the National Championship, taking on Minnesota State University-Mankato at 1:00 pm in Cary, North Carolina. Matt Kostolos will take the hill for the Spartans, who have a record of 38-17, while the Central Region champ Mavericks come in at 45-10.
Both teams face elimination after tough opening day losses on Sunday. In Tournament Game 3, Minnesota-Mankato gave up three first inning runs before settling down, only to fall short in a 4-2 nailbiter. STAC followed in Game 4 with perhaps the most exciting game of the tournament thus far, battling from behind twice in the late innings before falling to Colorado Mesa University, 5-4 in 10 innings.
Seven teams remain in the NCAA Division II Baseball National Finals after Cal-Chico was eliminated in a Loser's Bracket game. Southern Indiana emerged from the Winner's Bracket match in the top half, pushing Lander to the brink with a tough 6-5 win.
The winner of today's STAC-vs-Minnesota-Mankato game (Tournament Game 7) remains alive and will play on Wednesday night, May 28, at 7:00 pm in an elimination game against the loser of Game 8 between Colorado Mesa and Seton Hill. Today's game time has been changed to 1:00 pm, in deference to the weather forecast of storms later in the day.
Full Interactive NCAA Tournament Bracket
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NCAA Division II Baseball Finals Results and Schedule
Full Scoreboard and Game Center
Saturday, May 24
Game 1 - Southern Indiana 4, Tampa 3 - The Tournament starts with an upset, as Southern Indiana scores a run in the top of the 9th to upend the top ranked team in the country, as Tampa sees its record fall to 51-3 overall.
Game 2 - Lander 6, Chico State 4 - A back-and-forth contest sees the Southeast Champs from South Carolina take down the California contingent with a three-run 7th-inning rally.
Sunday, May 25
Game 3 - Seton Hill 4, Minnesota-Mankato 2,- The Pennsylvania contingent jumps on top with three in the first and the Mustangs answer with two in the second. The game will stay that way until Seton Hill notches an insurance run in the 8th.
Game 4 - Colorado Mesa 5, St. Thomas Aquinas 4 (10) - STAC jumps to an early 2-0 lead but Mesa battles back in this see-saw thriller, with both teams missing chances before the Mavericks snatch the win in extras.
Monday, May 26
Game 5 - Tampa (1L) 14, Chico State (2L) 6 (Chico State eliminated) - After a stunning opening loss, the nation's top-ranked team comes out swinging and never looks back, sending the West region champs home as the first team eliminated.
Game 6 - Southern Indiana (0L) vs Lander (1L) - Southern Indiana pulls off its second upset in as many days, buliding a 5-0 lead and holding on for dear life to remain in the Winner's Bracket, setting up a big showdown Wednesday in an elimination game between two 50-win teams (Lander and Tampa)
Tuesday, May 27
Game 7 - Minnesota-Mankato (1L) vs St. Thomas Aquinas (1L) - 1:00 (Loser eliminated)
Game 8 - Seton Hill (0L) vs Colorado Mesa (0L) - 7:00
Wednesday, May 28
Game 9 - Lander (1L) vs Tampa (1L) - 3:00 (Loser eliminated)
Game 10 - Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8 - 7:00 (Loser eliminated)
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STAC Facts:
Game No. 56
Post Season Game No. 12
Vs Minnesota State-Mankato
At NCAA Baseball Finals – Cary, NC
First Pitch/Last Pitch – By the time you read this, Spartan hurler Joe Grimaldi will have reported for boot camp at Parris Island, SC, to begin his stint with the US Marine Corps. Joe was honored by the professional Rockland Boulders of the Can Am League, invited to throw out the first pitch before Sunday afternoon's game at Provident Bank Park. Ironically, the "last pitch" of his college career was thrown on the mound that is also the home field of the STAC baseball team.
No Door Matt, He – One of the many heroes in the Spartans' run to the nationals has been today's starting pitcher Matt Kostolos. In the ECC Tournament, with his team in the Loser's Bracket, the right-hander turned in his best start of the season, fanning 12 and allowing one earned run on two hits in a 4-2 victory over Bridgeport. After losing the Regional opener against Wilmington – allowing all four of his runs over seven innings in just one rough frame – he turned in the outing of his young career in the final game. After throwing 124 pitches against Wilmington, Kostolos came back on two days rest and threw 118 more in a complete-game, 6-hit gem in the regional clincher, a 3-0 victory over Dowling. After struggling in the bullpen early, Matt has been 7-1 with a 2.06 era since moving to the starting rotation.
Never Surrender –The Spartans have outscored opponents to the tune of 76-29 from the 8th inning on. The team has developed a reputation for late heroics, standing 26-2 when leading after six innings, and they have won five games when trailing after seven innings, another three when tied. Against Colorado Mesa, STAC rallied to tie in both the 8th and 9th innings before falling in the 10th. The Spartans have now lost their last five double-elimination tournament openers over the past two seasons, but have a remarkable 12-1 record (.923 percentage) when facing elimination against the top teams in their conference and region.
Never Surrender Goes National – As a testament to their late-game magic, many members of the STAC baseball entourage will be seen sporting white wristbands. They were distributed at a luncheon held by College President Dr. Margaret Fitzpatrick on the Sparkill Campus to honor the team before their departure to Cary last Wednesday. The wristbands read, "Spartan Nation… Never Surrender."
The Cat's Meow (con't.) – Pitching Coach Justin Karn may make the trips to the mound to make adjustments but the final call falls to Head Coach Scott Muscat, who is no stranger to the bump. During his playing days at West Guilford HS in North Carolina, his team won back-to-back State Championships in 1984 and '85, thanks in no small part to the Spartan skipper. Muscat had a 9-0 postseason record – including a pair of no-hitters – and was inducted into the WGHS Hall of Fame on March 16, 2012.
Rockland Trailblazers – Founded in 1989 as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference (NYCAC) and rebranded in 2006-07, the ECC is now in its 25th season. The 2014 Spartans become just the 7th team in conference history to make the National Finals, and only the second since 2000 (Dowling 2009).
He Wuz Rob-bed – Colorado Mesa University entered Sunday's game against STAC ace Rob Frank with a torrid .361 team batting average. As a sign of how effective Frank was, in CMU's previous 55 games, only one pitcher worked longer than his 7.2 innings (Derek Stimpson, 8.0 innings, Metro State, April 13), and only five other times this season did any starter yield as few as one earned run (no starter against the Mustangs went unscathed in terms of earned runs). Unfortunately, Frank wounded his own cause with a fielding error that led to two of his opponents' four unearned runs.
Oh, Susana! – Had his team not won its first ever regional this season, it would have been one to forget for shortstop Stanley Susana. The three-time First Team All-Conference selection had just three hits in 17 at bats over five games for a .176 average. He matched that hit total in Sunday's loss to Colorado Mesa, going 3-for-5 in the extra inning loss.
Bounce-Back-Baerga – In seven post-season games last season, Rich Baerga struggled to get the bat going, hitting just .208 (7-for-24), including 0-for-7 at the NCAA Regional. This season has been a different story, as he is batting .395 (17-for-43) in 11 games against the best teams in the conference, the region, and the nation.
School record still in sight – Their eight post-season wins has left the Spartans just one short of the school's single-season wins record (39), set last season.
Davids vs Goliaths – As evidenced by the enrollment numbers, bigger isn't necessarily better as St. Thomas Aquinas College is the second smallest among the eight national qualifiers. Ranked in order by enrolment (numbers per Wikipedia): Cal-Chico – 16,356; Minnesota-Mankato – 15,409; Southern Indiana – 10,820; Colorado-Mesa – 9.245; Tampa – 7,200; Lander – 3,000; St. Thomas Aquinas – 2,800; Seton Hill – 2,500