The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team fell to Wilmington University, 11-9 in the final game of the 2015 NCAA Divsion II East Regional in Rindge, New Hampshire.

Wilmington advanced to the final game by eliminating the hosts from Franklin Pierce, 5-3, earlier this afternoon. STAC finished the season with a 30-19-1 record, while Wilmington advances at 37-13.

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To put the Spartans' accomplishments in perspective - only five of the eight regional champions from a year ago even qualified for this year's tournament. Of those five, University of Tampa in the South region is the only other 2014 finalist to make it to this year's Championship Sunday.

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9:09 - The teams exchance handshakes at home plate, as Wilmington will receive the Regional Championship trophy and also become the first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference team to travel to Cary, NC, for the finals. STAC's Jon McGugan, Giovanni Dingcong, and Chrsitian Santo are named to the All-Championship team. Spartans coaches and players applaud the victorious Wildcats in front of the third base dugout, in a sign of great sportsmanship.

9:04 - One last burst of energy emits from the fans and dugouts, as the marathon game tops the 3:45 mark. Brandon Fischer swings through a 2-2 fastball, one out. Baerga works a 3-1 walk. Fries is showing signs of wear in the long outing, falilng behind Del Priore 2-0, but the big right hander has a cushion to work with. Del Priore hits a deep fly to center that drifts over the head Feeney a double. STAC has life with second and third with one out. McGugan takes a 1-2 fastball just below the knees before drilling the next pitch down the left field line for a two run double. Tying run at the plate, top of the order, runner at second, one out. Wilmington 11, STAC 9. Pena pops a 3-1 pitch behind the plate and Lopes squeezes it for the second out. The tension builds at STAC is down to its last out with ECC Player of the Year Susana facing his last career at bat. Fries comes out on top, freezing Susana with a 1-2 slider on the outside corner, sending the Wildcats into a frenzied victory celebration, and their first NCAA Division II Championship appearance. - FINAL - Wilmington 11, STAC 9.

8:52 - Stevens swings through a 1-2 pitch for the first out of the visiting ninth. Samluk tags an 0-1 liner to Pena right in his tracks at second, two down. Castro works a good at bat into a full count before drawing a two-out walk. Swirchak grounds to Fischer, who tosses to Pena for the force. Last licks for the Spartans' season. - Mid 9th - Wilmington 11, STAC 7.

8:43 - Gargan is fooled on a 2-2 pitch leading off, and his tapper to first is run down by Samluk for the first out. Dingcong waves at a hook on 1-2 for the second out. T. Fries is dealing, after an opposite field liner drops foul, Santo also taps weakly to first to retire the side. End 8th - Wilmington 11, STAC 7.

8:36 - James Sanchez is on to work as STAC's sixth pitcher, while Wilmington has used five. All hands on deck in the final game to be played in the east this season. Castro works the count full and his foul pop into shallow right is tracked down by Santo. Swirchak hits a chopper to second - Pena stays back and Swirchack blazes down the line to beat the throw for a single. With a 1-1 count to Goines, Sanchez thhrows a pickoff attempt away, moving Swirchak to second. Scott Muscat takes the ball, and hands it to Frankie Moscatiello (RHP), STAC's seventh pitcher. Moscatiello's 3-1 to Goines is in the dirt, with the wild pitch sending Swirchek to third and putting Goines on with the walk; still one out. On the 0-1 pitch, a ball, Goines breaks for second and McGugan throws through, Goines stops, trying to get hung up, and trots back to first without a throw, 1-1 count. Lopes pops a bunt that falls foul on an attempted squeeze; Lopes did a good job just to get a piece of the high offering. Lopes battles until Moscatiello hangs a 1-2 pitch, the drive toward the gap in right center breaks off the glove of a diving Dingcong, scoring an insurance run and putting runners at first and second. Wilmington 10, STAC 7. Goines gets a great jump and steals third, McGugan's late throw skips past Susana. Goines holds, but Lopes advances to second on the throwing miscue, STAC's fourth error. Second and third, one out. Moscatiello helps himself, swatting down Feeney's hard grounder to the box, holding the runners and completing the second out. The next pitch breaks off the glove of McGugan, with the runners advancing on the wild pitch. Wilmington 11, STAC 7. Adorno walks on four pitches, first and third with two out. Moscatiello fans Kyle Fries on 3-2 to end the inning. After four long days, fans and staff alike are running on empty. How much can the players have left? Mid 8th - Wilmington 11, STAC 7

8:07- Kyle Menchaca (RHP) is on for the Wildcats. This lights are coming on at Pappas Field. Menchaca throws four pitches - none close - and Santo has a leadoff walk. Fischer falls into an 0-2 hole and fans on a pitch in the dirt; one out, one on. Baerga fouls off a handful of pitches on 2-2 and hits a tough grounder to third that's booted by Stevens to put runners on first and second. After the slow start, Menchaca is hitting good spots. Again, the righty gets ahead but Del Priore stays alive before lining a single to right. The tying runs are on base. Sensing the urgency, Wilmington goes to closer Tyler Fries, who earned a five-out save in the earlier win over Franklin Pierce. Fries beats McGugan on a high 1-2 fastball for the second out. Pena up. A 1-2 grounder is smacked to the first baseman, but Fries is late getting over and Pena narrowly beats the throw for an RBI single. Wilmington 9, STAC 7. Bases loaded, two out, Susana up with possibly his team's season on the line. Fries again wins the battle, fanning Susana with high heat and letting out a roar. It's getting noticably cooler, and time could be running out on STAC's regional title defense. End 7th - Wilmington 9, STAC 7.

7:44 - Petro is done after three scoreless frames; RHP Michael Gonzalez is on for his first postseason appearance. Goines takes four for a leadoff walk, and that spells the end of the righty's brief stint. Chris Pennell (RHP) comes out of the pen. Lopes drops a nice first pitch bunt down the first base line, Pennell throws him out but the job is done; runner at second with one down. Feeney's grounder to the right side is past a diving Santo; Pena dives to keep it in the infield but has no play. Runners at the corners with one out. Adorno executes a perfect squeeze bunt and nobody is covering; Feeney overruns second, however, and is trapped in a rundown heading to third for the second out. Wilmington 8, STAC 6. Adorno steals second on the first pitch, McGugan's throw hits the runner in the thigh, but no damage done. Runner at second, two out. Pennell hangs a 1-2 curve and Fries cranks it into the left field corner for an RBI double. Wilmington 9, STAC 6. Pennell's 0-1 pitch to Stevens is in the dirt, the wild pitch moves Fries to third. The count runs to 2-1, and Scott Muscat comes out to relieve Pennell. Maurizio DeVita (RHP) is on to pitch. DeVita is throwing hard but a 3-2 pitch is in the dirt for the walk. Samluk pops out to end the inning. Mid 7th - Wilimington 9, STAC 6.

7:25 - Pena takes a payoff pitch just off the inside corner, the Spartans have their leadoff man on. Monahan has good movement on his pitches but is having trouble hitting his spots. After nearly picking off Pena, he walks Susana on another full count. First and second, nobody out, coach to the mound. Most of the field is now covered in shadow. A humorous moments as the gnats start to come out, forcing Gargan to step out of the box and ump Jeff Burt to step forward and wave his mask as the pests. Gargan wastes a nice 1-2 slider to stay alive, but Monahan wins the battle with a 2-2 strikeout. Dingcong hits a 2-0 grounder to Adorno who starts the tailor-made double-play, and now the Wildcats roar. End 6th- Wilmington 7, STAC 6

7:10 - Adorno strokes the first pitch of the inning for a soft line single to right. Fries squares to bunt on 1-0, the pitch rides well inside but hits the bat for a strike. after another foul, Adorno takes off and Fries hits a hard grounder to short, but there's no chance for a twin killing as the throw has to go to first. One out, runner at second. Stevens is hit by the first pitch, two on, one out. Back to the top of the order, some stirring in the STAC pen. Samluk flies to center on a 2-2 pitch for the second out, runners hold. Castro's grounder to third is past a diving Susana, but tracked down by a sliding Fischer, who saves a run. Bases loaded with two out. McGugan gets just enough of a 1-2 pitch in the dirt to again prevent a run. That ends up big as Swirchak drives one deep to center that's run down on the track by Baerga. Remember the plays by Fischer and McGugan if the Spartans come back. Mid 6th - Wilmington 7, STAC 6.

6:55 - Santo screams a liner toward right, but Swirchak goes high to get a piece of it. The ball pops in front of him and he completes the terrific play with a throw to first. Fischer then lines one the other way, but right into the glove of Samluk at first. Defenses are starting to step up. Baerga rips a grounder in the hole, Adorno makes a nice sliding play but his long throw is too late. STAC has a base stealing threat on with two out. Which becomes moot when Del Priore is hit with the first pitch. First and second, two out. McGugan hits a soft 0-2 grounder to second and the side is retired. End 5th - Wilmington 7, STAC 6

6:47 - Goines leads off by hitting a 3-1 grounder hard to third, off the glove of Susana for an error. Petro bounces one well in front of the plate, advancing Goines to second. Lopes drops a perfect bunt down the third base line - despite having no chance, Susana makes a great play, faking a throw to first and immediately pivoting to third, catching Goines overrunning the base, with Petro hustling over to apply the tag. Feeney follows with a hard grounder to first, snagged by Santo who spins to complete the pretty 3-6-3 double play. Mid 5th - Wilmington 7, STAC 6.

6:39 - Late afternoon shadows coming from the third base side are now covering most of the infield. Still plenty of gorgeous daylight left. Del Priore goes the other way with the first pitch for a line single to right. McGugan's hard hit grounder in the hole is knocked down by Adorno at short, but there is no play; two on, none out. Like most of the pitchers today, Rumford is throwing some nice pitches but the hitters are all over the mistakes, as the teams have combined for 17 hits so far. Pena squares to bunt, Samluk, charging hard at first, plays the bunt in front of the mound and easily forces Del Priore at third. First and second, one out. Susana swings through a tough slider on the outside part for the second out. On a 2-0 pitch, Gargan gets hit on the right elbow, drawing a protest from the Wilmington bench that he did not attempt to move. The bases are loaded with two out, Dingcong to the plate. After the lengthy delay, Wilmington goes to the pen, Peter Monahan comes in (RHP). Dingcong taps a short fly behind the mound; it looks like trouble but Monahan makes the over-the-shoulder catch to end the threat. The scoriing barage has halted... for the moment. End 4th - Wilmington 7, STAC 6

6:22 - Matt Petro (RHP) is on to work the top of the fourth, his first appearance in the tournament. Samulk hits a slicing liner to right, Dingcong tracks it down near the line for the first out. Petro fools Castro, who swings at an off-speed delivery for the second out. Swrichak skies the first pitch to right-center, with Baerga making the catch. Quick inning has the Spartans roaring coming off the field. Mid 4th - Wilmington 7, STAC 6

6:17 - Santo strokes a sinking liner to right, Fries knocks it down with a dive but can't hold on as Santo reaches on a single. Fisher hits a tailing liner right at Swirchak at second, and Santo is caught off first for the double play, two down. Baerga flies a 3-1 pitch to deep right, Fries circles under it and the catch isn't pretty, but it doesn't need to be. End 3rd - Wilmington 7, STAC 6

6:11 - Kostolos is back out for the third. STAC's pen was active, but is now quiet. Lopes cranks a 2-2 pitch into the left center gap, one hop to the fence for a double. The Spartan pen quickly stirs again. Feeney squares to bunt but slashes, hitting a chopper into center field for a single, Lopes holds at third. First and third, none out, pitching coach John Muller to the mound. Adorno's grounder up the midded is taken by Fischer and flipped to Pena, but there's no return throw and the go-ahead run scores. Wilmington 7, STAC 6. A perfect hit-and-run single by Fries trickles through the right side, putting runners at first and third with one out. McGugan helps the cause, gunning down Fries attempting to steal as Pena applies the tag. Runner at third, two down. Kostolos fans Stevens on a tailing slider and paces slowly off the mound, clearly disappointed. Still a long was to go in this one. Mid 3rd - Wilmington 7, STAC 6

5:59 - Yesterday's hero McGugan - apparently fully recovered - laces a leadoff single to right field. Pena up, runner at first. A 2-1 slider breaks off the glove of catcher Lopes, with McGugan advancing on the wild pitch. It's been a long weekend and fatigue is showing on both teams. Pena grounds hard to the right side, a nice sliding play by Swirchak for the out but McGugan advances to third. That pays off when another Newton wild pitch brings in the tying run. STAC 6, Wilmington 6. Susana continues to work out a 3-1 walk, and Newtown is done for the day. Runner at first, one out. Zach Rumford (LHP) is on for the Wildcats. Gargan taps a 2-1 to the mound, but Susana is going on the pitch, avoiding the double play as the only shot is to first. Two out, runner at second. Rumford is a side-armer, who works with his toe on the third base edge of the rubber, an unconventional look. It is effective, as Dingcong waves at a pair of sliders to end the inning. A long road to be back where we started. End 2nd - STAC 6, Wilmington 6.

5:47 - Catching up, after Brandon Fischer gives STAC a 5-0 lead in the first, Wilmington unloads on Kostolos, who is clearly off a beat on two days rest after a complete game. Six hard hit balls and a fielder's choice, and the Wildcats have wasted little time in claiming the lead. Wilmington 6, STAC 5. With one out and one one, Swrichak's grounder up the middle is fielded nicely by Fischer, whose filp is barehanded by Pena for the second out, runner at first. Goines swings through a 3-1 pitch, but Swirchuk steals second on the pitch. A foul tip on 3-2 stings McGugan, who needs some time to recover. Goines taps to Susana to end the inning with Wilmington in an unconventional one-run lead. Mid 2nd - Wilmington 6, STAC 5

5:40 - Back after technical difficulties - (Dear Windows, having an automatic update in the middle of a job is a VERY bad thing!).

5:18 - Righty Wersinger falls to the first base side of the hill and Pena deadens the first pitch down the third base line for a perfect bunt single. Wersinger's throw is in the dirt but stopped nicely by Samluk at first. Susana jumps on the very next pitch and sends a screaming one-hopper to the left field wall for a double. Two pitches, two hits, second and third. Gargan walks on four pitches - only one close - and the coach is to the mound with bases loaded and nobody out. Dingcong smokes a 1-0 fastball on one hop past shortstop Adorno and into left center for a two-run double. STAC 2, Wilmington 0. Santo wastes little time as well, ripping a two-hopper inside the first-base bag for another two-bagger, driving in another pair. STAC 4, Wilmington 0. Wersinger's day ends after just nine pitches - four hits and five balls. Tyler Newton (RHP) is on in relief, runner at second, nobody out.

5:11 - Three pitches, three strikes, a swinging strikeout. Castro taps an 0-1 off the plate, the pitcher comes straight in and fires to first for a quick second out. A 1-2 offering to Swirchak just dances off the outside corner, and the #3 hitter fouls off a tough one before smoking a liner to center, but Baerga tracks in a few steps and makes the easy catch. Three outs, 11 pitches as we head to the bottom half. - Mid 1st - Wilmington 0, STAC coming to bat.

5:07 - Kostolos' first pitch to Samluk is a chest high fastball, strike one. May the best team win...

5:01 - Lineup cards have been exchanged. Full championship intros for today's penultimate game. Wilmington just finishing, STAC next. First pitch should be in about five minutes.

4:46 - Spartans starting lineup - 1) Pena, 2b: 2) Susana, 3B; 3) Gargan, LF; 4) Dingcong, RF; 5) Santo, 1b; 6) Fischer, SS; 7) Baerga, CF; 8) Del Priore, DH; 9) McGugan, C; SP) Kostolos, (8-4, 1.62)

4:43 - STAC will bat as the home team for today's final. Wilmington lineup: 1) Samulak, 1b; 2) Castro, DH; 3) Swirchak, 2b; 4) Goines, LF; 5) Lopes, C; 6) Feeney, CF; 7) Adorno, SS; 8) K. Fries, RF; 9) Stevens; SP) Wersinger (5-2, 3.27 ERA).

4:35 - A definited pall has descended over Rindge, as the top seeded Ravens suffered elimination at the hands of Wilmington less than an hour ago. Teams are stretching on the field and it is a perfect, sunny 83 degree day for today's championship contest. Lineups to follow

2015 East Regional Schedule (Double-Elimination Format)

Thursday, May 14

Game 1 - #6 St.Thomas Aquinas 3, #1 Franklin Pierce 0

Game 2 - #2 Stonehill 5, #5 Dowling 2

Game 3 - 7:00 pm -  #4 Wilmington 3, #3 Southern New Hampshire 2

Friday, May 15

Game 4 - Franklin Pierce (1L) 1, vs. Dowling 0 (2L) (Dowling Eliminated)

Game 5 - Southern New Hampshire (1L), 6, St. Thomas Aquinas (1L) 3

Game 6 - Wilmington (0L) 4, Stonehill (1L) 3

Saturday, May 16

Game 7 - St. Thomas Aquinas (1L) 8, Stonehill (2L) 0 (Stonehill Eliminated)

Game 8 - Franklin Pierce (1L) 8, Southern New Hampshire (2L) 2 (SNHU Eliminated)

Game 9 - St. Thomas Aquinas (1L) 7, Wilmington 3 (1L)

Sunday, May 17

Game 10 - 1:00 pm - Wilmington (1L) 5, Franklin Pierce (2L) 3 (FPU Eliminated)

Game 11 - 5:00 pm Wilmington 11, St. Thomas Aquinas 9 (Wilmington Advances)