The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team squares off with Dowling College in a rematch of the East Coast Conference Tournament Final, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II National Championship in Cary, North Carolina.
(internet problems, sorry for delays)
5:03 - Kostolos goes the distance - the Spartans are the NCAA East Region champs and are on their way to Cary, North Carolina! - FINAL - STAC 3, Dowling 0
4:56 - Del Priore singles to right with two down but goes no further The Spartans take the field just three outs from their first ever Regional Championship. - End 8th - STAC 3, Dowling 0
4:54 - Three up, three down. after a shaky start, Matt Kostolos is three outs away from leading his Spartans to North Carolina. - Mid 8th - STAC 3, Dowling 0
4:48 - Omar Cuevas comes thru with a big RBI single, the Spartans are up three runs with six outs to go. Kostolos paces back to the hill. - End 7th - STAC 3, Dowling 0
4:36 - Tense moments as Rich Baerga goes down with a leg cramp heading out to the field. He stays in the game and a pair of fly balls to D'Angelo in right and a grounder to second ends the visiting 7th quickly. Stretch time for the final time in Manchester. - Mid 7th - STAC 2, Dowling 0
4:32 - Hirsch singles in Baerga and the Spartans have an insurance run as Kostolos heads out for the 7th. End 6th - STAC 2, Dowling 0
4:25 - Mike Apreda drills a 3-2 pitch to left for a leadoff hit and Kadeem Octave comes on to pinch run. McPartland's outstanding start comes to a close and LHP Nick Persad is brought in. Rich Baerga's attempted sac is flipped poorly by Persad and all hands are safe. The next pitch is in the dirt but hits the umpire, Octave breaks for third and Parisi's throw is off the mark, allowing Octave to break the scoreless deadlock. - Bottom 6th - STAC 1, Dowling 0
4:14 - Going's perfect bunt to third goes for a single but he's erased on a 4-6-3 twin killing. Veltre singles to right center and moves up on a wild pitch. Kostolos gets Parisi on a grounder to second and another runner is left in scoring position. - Mid 6th - STAC 0, Dowling 0
4:07 - A little controversy as Sunday's shallow fly to left is ruled a catch instead of a trap, and Ferriggi, who reached on a single, is doubled off to end the inning. - End 5th - STAC 0, Dowling 0
4:01 - Rizzatello is hit by a pitch leading off but with runners at 2nd and 3rd and two down, Abreu flies out to end the threat. We remain scoreless midway through. - Mid 5th - STAC 0, Dowling 0
3:51 - Going's fielding error puts Kirshner on to lead off. He advances to second and third on ground outs but D'Angelo flies to right as the game's first run remains 90 feet away. - End 4th - STAC 0, Dowling 0
3:46 - JC Brandmaier drops a Bermuda Triangle single into right center with one down, but Parisi flies to fairly dep left and Veltre fans to end the inning. - Mid 4th - STAC 0, Dowling 0
3:38 - Two grounders and a bunt and the Spartans are down quickly in order. Breeze has died down, another perfect day for an epic championship battle. - End 3rd - STAC 0, Dowling 0
3:34 - Schuster singles with one down but Kostolos holds him close and Sunday guns him down trying to steal. Baerga, playing shallow in center, is tested by Abreu but makes a nice running catch going back to end the inning - Mid 3rd - STAC 0, Dowling 0
3:27 - Susana lines a two-out double into the right field corner for STAC's first hit but goes no further. - End 2nd, STAC 0, Dowling 0
3:18 - Kostolos continues to flirt
with trouble, falling behind batters but Veltre's one-out double
into the left field corner doesn't produce any runs
-Mid 2nd - STAC 0, Dowling 0
3:13 - Despite throwing only 26 innings this season, McPartland looks comfortable setting the Spartans down in order in the first. - End 1st - STAC 0, Dowling 0
3:08 - Kostalos battles through a tough first but seems to be finding the strike zone as Brandmaier grounds out to end the threat - Mid 1st - Dowling 0, STAC coming to bat
3:05 - After a four-pitch walk to Cruz, Schuster hits into a perfect 4-6-3 double play. Abreu singles to left with two down and Going walks., Brandmaier up, two on, two out.
3:01 - First pitch from Kostalos to Cruz is a ball. Final game underway...
2:57 - Starters
-Dowling - Cruz cf; Schuster rf; Abreu 2b; Going ss;
Brandmaier; Parisi dh; Veltre lf; Rizzitello c; Orlando p (1-3,
3.81 ERA)
St. Thomas Aquinas
(home) - Baerga cf; Kirshner 1b; Hirch lf; Del Priore dh; D'Angelo
rf; Susana ss; Ferriggi 3b; Sunday c; Apreda 2b; Kostalos p (6-2,
3.0 ERA)
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Other results:
Thursday, May 15
Game 1 - (1) Southern New Hampshire 9, (6) Felician 3 - The hosts unleash a 7-run barrage in the bottom of the 1st inning and cruise to victory.
Game 2 - (5) Dowling 3, (2) Franklin Pierce 0 - ECC Pitcher of the Year Tyler Badamo tosses a shutout and his offense provides two homers in the opening victory.
Game 3 - (3) Wilmington 4, (4) St. Thomas Aquinas 0 - Wilmington scores four runs in the third and pitching does the rest for the Wildcats.
Friday, May 16
Game 4 - (2) Felician (1L) 5, (6) Franklin Pierce (2L) 0 (Franklin Pierce eliminated) - Jack Fowler tosses a six-hit shutout and the Golden Falcons strike late to send FPU packing.
Game 5 - (4) St. Thomas Aquinas (1L) 6, (1) Southern New Hampshire (1L) 1 - Nick D'Angelo homers and Rob Frank braves a 64-minute rain delay, striking out 13 in a complete game win.
Game 6 - (5) Dowling (0L) 6, (3) Wilmington (1L) 1 - Tom Bammann carries a shutout into the final inning as the Golden Lions remain the only team in the Winner's Bracket, securing a slot in Sunday's final action.
Saturday, May 17
Game 7 - (1) Southern New Hampshire (1L) 4, (3) Wilmington (2L) 3 (Wilmington eliminated) - The hosts rally from a three-run deficit to eliminate the Wildcats and advance to Game 9 against Dowling.
Game 8 - (4) St. Thomas Aquinas (1L) 8, (6) Felician 5 (2L) (Felician eliminated) - Spartans score six unanswered runs as a 3-run rally in bottom of 8th makes CJ Ferriggi a winner in relief.
Game 9 - (5) Dowling 4 (0L), (1) Southern New Hampshire 3 (2L) (SNHU eliminated) - The Golden Lions hold on to eliminate the hosts and set up an ECC Final rematch with St. Thomas Aquinas on Sunday.
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Sunday, May 18
Game 10 - (4) St.
Thomas Aquinas 4, vs (5) Dowling 2
Game 11 - (4) St. Thomas Aquinas vs (5) Dowling (winner is East Region Champion)