The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team takes on Felician College at 3:30 pm in NCAA East Regional Game 8 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The winner advances to Game 10 on Sunday at noon, with the loser eliminated.
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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.
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Game 8 - (4) St. Thomas Aquinas vs (6) Felician (losing team eliminated)
(via coin toss, STAC will bat
as the home team in today's game)
6:55 - BALL GAME! A leadoff walk is no problem as Ferriggi battles back to retire the side, sending St. Thomas Aquinas into Game 10, at Noon tomorrow!
6:51 - 5-6-7, Collazo, Price, Tackett in Felician 9th.
6:48 - Greg Dawber sacrifices runners into scoring position with two out. John Holland on to pitch, Susana smokes a grounder that shortstop Brill makes a nice diving play on ending the inning. But the damage has been down. Ferriggi back to the hill trying to send St. Thomas Aquinas to the Fourth and final day of the Division II East Regional. - End 8th - STAC 8, Felician 5.
6:44 - BALL FOUR! Sunday walks on 3-1 pitch to put STAC ahead for the first time! Baerga follows by lacing an 0-1 pitch into left center, plating two more. 1st and 2nd, still one out. The Spartans are still at bat and just three outs from advancing to Game 10 tomorrow.
6:39 - Del Priore rips a single, Ferriggi has to hold at 3rd. Bases loaded, one out - Sunday pinch hitting for Apreda.
6:36 - Ferriggi helps himself, reaching on a four-pitch walk with one out, forcing a trip to the mound. Facendo stays in. Teams and fans arriving for Dowling-SNHU game, large presence of spectators only adds to the building tension. D'Angelo rips a single past a diving Tackett into left field. 1st and 2nd, one out. Del Priore up.
6:30 Matthew Facendo (RHP) is announced in relief for the Golden Falcons and the Spartans dugout meeting results in a roar. Getting late, sun starting to go down with the season in the balance.
6:28 - Ferriggi strikes out the first two batters, an opposite-field single to right for Brill and a line single to center by DeJong put two on with two down, but cleanup hitter Petosa skies harmlessly to right, quelling the uprising. - Mid 8th - STAC 5, Felician 5.
6:18 - CJ Ferriggi in to pitch, Greg Dawber in to play third, batting in #2 slot.
6:15 - Grimaldi advances to third on a wild pitch. Rogers bounces another, but this one takes a friendly bounce back to catcher McGuiness, who flips to Rogers to narrowly nail Grimaldi at home, the second Spartan out at the plate in the game. Susana fans, and Hirsch grounds out at third as Spartans fail to score with runner on third and nobody out for third time today. - End 7th - STAC 5, Felician 5.
6:10 - Chris Goetz pinch hits for Tompkins to lead off and grounds a single into center. Joe Grimaldi in to run. Catcher McGuinness tries pickoff but Grimaldi takes off and takes second. Nobody out, Susana up.
6:06 - Deep breath. Tompkins gets Faber on a pop to shallow right, stranding three. Light breeze, cloudless sun, beautiful setting. Pristine day for post-season baseball. Stretch time. Mid 7th - STAC 5, Felician 5.
6:01 - D'Angelo walks Tackett to load the bases with two down. Faber (lefty) brought in to pinch hit. RHP Brian Tompkins brought in to pitch, D'Angelo back to right field, Octave out. Tompkins batting in #2 slot.
5:56 - May hits Brennan Price with a pitch, putting two on with two out and bringing Scott Muscat out of the dugout. Nick D'Angelo coming in from right field to pitch, Kadeem Octave goes into DH spot for Nick Gargan, batting 2nd and playing right field.
5:53 - DeJong puts one toward left center and stretches it into a leadoff double, but fly outs to center and right keep the runner at second with two down.
5:37 - Rogers (RHP, 11 appearances, 3.07 ERA). Del Priore flies deep to left to lead off, Apreda and Baerga strike out. Relief pitching settles down both offenses for the moment. - End 7th - STAC 5, Felician 5.
5:34 - A pop up and two grounders and finally a quick inning, as May sets down the Golden Falcons on five pitches. - STAC right back to bat. Billy Rogers in to pitch for Felician. - Mid 6th - STAC 5, Felician 5
5:31 - D'Angelo laces a 3-1 pitch into centerfield, scoring two runs to tie the score. D'Angelo is out trying to advance to second, but the Spartans finally have their big hit and it's a new ballgame. - End 5th - STAC 5, Felician 5
5:26 - Ferriggi works a 3-2 count before sending a sac fly to fairly deep center, scoring Susana. First pitch to D'Angelo goes to backstop, moving tying runs to scoring position. - Bottom 5th, Felician 5, STAC 3.
5:22 - Susana is hit by a pitch, Hirsch beats out an infield hit, and Kirshner laces a 3-1 offering to left to load the bags with one down. STAC dangerous again, looking for the big hit.
5:10 - May issues a leadoff walk and induces a double play ball, but a single by Collazzo, Price hit by pitch, and Tackett single to right plates a run with a two-out rally. - Mid 5th - Felician 5, STAC 2.
5:03 - Apreda strikes out and Baerga taps back to the mound as Paladino dances through trouble. STAC has left four runners in scoring position and had one thrown out at home in four innings. - End 4th - Felician 4, STAC 2
4:53 - Chaos breaking out in the bottom of the 4th. Kirshner strokes a 3-2 offering to right center for a single and steals second. He holds at second on an overthrow by catcher McGuinness, but the return throw from centerfielder Fellin is offline, advancing Kirshner to third. Ferriggi folllows with a pop up in front of the plate that drops in front of McGuinness, but Ferriggi, late out of the box, is obstructed on his way to first and is put safely on base. D'Angelo follows with a sac fly to center. Del Priore works out a walk. Runners at first and second, one out. -Bottom 4th - Felician 4, STAC 2
4:41 - Fellin fights off an 0-2 pitch, flying deep enough to right to bring in a run and May strands a runner at third. - Mid 4th - Felician 4, STAC 1.
4:36 - An infield hit to short and a walk put two on, with a sacrifice moving both into scoring position with one out. Petro's day comes to a close, as he's replaced by lefty Nick May. - Top 4th - Felician 3, STAC 1
4:26 - Hirsh flies to short left, Apreda tags and is gunned down at home by Petosa. Spartans on the board, but Golden Falcons dodge a bullet. - End 3rd, Felician 3, STAC 1.
4:18 - Del Priore walks on four pitches leading off and steals second. Mike Apreda's grounder is bobbled, then thrown away by shortstop Brill, scoring Del Priore as Apreda stays at first. Baerga legs out an infield hit on another grounder toward short, and Gargan follows with a perfect bunt single toward third. Susana flies to short right, runners hold. Bases loaded, one out. Spartans on the board and threatening. - Bottom 3rd, Felician 3, STAC 1.
4:11 - Joe Petosa singles and with two out, executes a delayed steal, moving to third on a throwing error. He's left there as Baerga comes in for a diving catch in center, depriving Price of a run-scoring hit. - Mid 3rd - Felician 3, STAC 0
4:05 - Kirshner leads off with a single and advances on Ferriggi's soft grounder to short. With Kirshner on the move. D'Angelo's soft liner is snagged beautifully in short right by second baseman Caccavale, turning it into an inning-ending double play. - End 2nd - Felician 3, STAC 0
3:58 - Brill''s sharp liner to right ends the inning with a runner at third, but the Golden Falcons strike first. Two runs unearned in the inning. - Mid 2nd - Felician 3, STAC 0
3:55 - Ralph Caccavale's potential double-play grounder goes under Mike Apreda's glove, scoring two runs. Fellin's squeeze bunt on the first pitch brings in another. Top 2nd - Felician 3, STAC 0
3:53 - Collazzo singles to lead off and Price walks. Petro fans Tackett but hits McGuinness with the first pitch to load the bases with one out.
3:45 - Paladino rebounds to strike out Nick Gargan and Stanley Susana, and Collazzo redeems himself with a sliding catch on Derek Hirsch to end the inning with no damage - End 1st - Felician 0, STAC 0
3:38 - Rich Baerga lines one the other way and a sliding attempt by right fielder Jay Collazzo comes up empty as the leadoff hitter pulls in with a triple. Nobody out...
3:34 - Scott De Jong lines a two-out single to left but Joe Petosa skies to center. Petro out of the first with one strikeout. Mid 1st - Felician 0, STAC coming to bat.
3:28 - Petro's first pitch is bunted almost perfectly down the third base line but misses the bag by inches, rolling foul. We're underway...
After a rainy Friday, it's a pristine day for baseball in Manchester. Sunny and 73 degrees. And the Spartans take the field...
3:21 - Starters - Felician (visitors) - Fellin cf; Brill ss; DeJong 1b; Petosa lf; Collazo rf; Price dh; Tackett 3b; McGuiness c; Caccavale 2b; Paladino p (4-2 2.62 ERA)
St. Thomas Aquinas - Baerga cf; Gargan dh; Susana ss; Hirsch lf; Kirshner 1b; Ferriggi 3b; D'Angelo rf; Del Priore c; Apreda 2b; Petro p (3-1 3.03 ERA)