The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team. split a pair winning the first game, 6-3 and dropping the tail end by a 6-4 count in an East Coast Conference double-header at Queens College. STAC now stands at 17-9-1 overall, 12-4 in ECC play, with Queens now at 6-15, 3-9.
Elsewhere in the ECC, Bridgeport topped Molloy in the series finale, taking three of the four games in that set. Dowling and LIU Post split their twin bill, and Post has won two of the three games played in that series, which concludes tomorrow. The Spartans will enter their bye week in sole possession of first place, leading Bridgeport by 2.0 games, and Dowling and Post by 2.5 games (pending the outcome of tomorrow's Dowling-Post game). STAC's Magic Number to clinch an ECC Tournament berth is down to five. For the latest ECC Standings Click Here.
Both teams were held in check early by STAC starter Anthony Morris and Queens counterpart Joe Broderick. Nick Gargan's third inning run, scoring by benefit of a Queens error, was the lone tally through four innings. The Spartans added a run in the top of the fifth on Gargan's RBI double, and the hosts answered with a run in the home sixth to draw to within 2-1.
STAC scored in the seventh and Queens answered with one in the eighth, keeping the game tight at 3-2 entering what would be a wild ninth inning. John DeAngelis walked with the bases loaded and Juan Adorno followed up with a two-run single, giving the visitors some breathing room that would turn out to be needed. The Knights pushed across a run in their last at bat and loaded the bases with two out, but Frankie Moscatiello would record the strikeout to secure the win.
Morris went to 3-1 with the victory and Moscatiello earned his first save, while Broderick fell to 0-3. Gargan had a pair of hits to lead the Spartan offense.
Queens would grab its first lead of the series with a first-inning run in the nightcap, but Adorno's RBI single capped a pair of unearned runs in the third as STAC grabbed a 2-1 lead. That would come undone in the fifth, however, as a streak of wildness contributed to a four-run uprising by the hosts.
After the Knights rallied to tie the game with three straight hits, Spartan starter Michael Gonzalez gave way to Maurizio Devita, who proceeded to hit three Queens batters in the frame, with the Knights grabbing a 5-2 edge.
With the score 6-2, STAC staged a late but ultimately unsuccessful rally in the final innings. Deven del Priore's RBI single trimmed the gap to 6-3, but that was as far it it would get with two runners stranded. In the ninth, the Spartans would load the bases with one down and push a run across on Christian Santo's RBI grounder, but the tying runs would be left stranded in scoring position as Queens salvaged the series finale.
Gonzalez was tagged with the loss to drop to 1-2, with Queens starter Calvin Luk improving to 1-1 with the win. Brandon Fischer, Stanley Susana and Giovanni Dingcong each had two hits for STAC. Susana also reached safely in both games, extending his streak to having reached in all of the 25 games in which he has appeared this season and 31 games overall, dating back to last year's post-season.
Though they will not play a conference set next weekend, the Spartans have a full week of games on tap. They will return to Provident Bank Park on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, facing Nyack, Bloomfield, and Pace respectively, all in 3:30 pm starts. They will then play a four-game weekend non-conference set against Concordia, playing a twin-bill in Bronxville on Saturday, April 18, before returning to PBP to host another double on Sunday, April 19, with both set to start at 12:00 noon.