The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team banged out 21 hits in a 22-5 East Coast Conference victory at Mercy College. Stanley Susana knocked in five runs to key his Spartans' third straight win to improved to 8-6-1 overall and 4-2 in the ECC, as Mercy fell to 4-12, 1-5.

Both teams battled snow flurries and frosty temperatures but the Spartans wasted little time in heating up. Singles by Joseph Pena and and Nick Gargan and a walk to Susana loaded the bases before a batter was retired. Derek Hirsch put STAC on top with an RBI grounder, and after a second run scored on a wild pitch, Rich Cesca came through with a run-scoring single to put the visitors up by a three-spot.

Fielding woes would plague the Mavericks in a decisive third inning, with St. Thomas Aquinas taking full advantage. A pair of errors with two out and one on opened the door, and the Spartans charged through. Susana and Giovanni Dingcong would each convert two-run hits in what turned into an eight-run outburst, giving STAC an 11-0 cushion.

With ample run support to work with, Spartan starter Nick May allowed one run in the third and two in the fifth before giving way after six solid innings. Holding an 11-3 lead, STAC would further cement it's lead with six more runs in the top of the sixth, with ECC Player of the Week Susana providing another two-RBI blow.

From that point it was all over but the final tally, as May improved to 2-1 with the win. Pena, Cesca, and Rich Baerga each had three hits in the 21-hit onslaught as all nine STAC starters recorded at least one hit, while Cesca added three RBIs to the attack.

Due to the inclement weather, the second game was postponed until tomorrow, Sunday, March 29, and will be played as part of a double-header at Mercy College. The 11:00 am start will feature a 9-inning game with STAC batting last as the home team, followed by a 7-inning affair with Mercy getting last at-bats.