The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team fell to a 6-5 defeat in 11 innings at Adelphi University. The Spartans built a 5-1 lead before the hosts rallied to drop STAC to 13-8-1 overall, while the Panthers improved to 9-9 with the non-conference win.

Joseph Pena got the Spartans on the board first with a double in the opening frame, coming in to score on a double-steal attempt. Adelphi knotted the contest in the bottom half with an unearned run off starter Frankie Moscatiello.

STAC jumped right back on top in the second as Rich Baerga's two-run single made the score 3-1, and anothe pair in the third on RBI singles from Nick Gargan and Stanley Susana put the visitors in a 5-1 lead.

Adelphi rallied for three runs on as many hits in the home fourth, but Moscatiello gave way after six innings still holding a 5-4 edge. The Panthers tied the contest in the home eighth but reliever Anthony Morris escaped further damage by working out of a first-and-third, one out jam. Morris would also work out of trouble in the 10th before AU would finally break through in the 11th against Giovanni Dingcong.

Pena had three hits in the setback for STAC, with Jonathan McGugan and Baerga adding two each, while Dingcong fell to 0-1 with the loss.

The Spartans take on Nyack College on Wednesday, April 8, in a "road" game at Provident Bank Park. They then start a four-game ECC series on Friday at Queens College, before hosting a noon twin-bill at PBP on Saturday. The series wraps up back in Queens on Sunday.