The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team overcame an early 7-0 deficit to rally for an 8-7 decision over Dominican College. Joe Signore's three-run homer was a big blow and Scott Hannon tossed five scoreless relief innings to help their team improve to 16-6 overall, with Dominican falling to 7-12 on the season.

Despite being ranked #4 in the East Region in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association poll, the Spartans found themselves in a deep hole early. Frankie Moscatiello worked two scoreless innings but three walks and a costly error helped the Chargers push across four runs - just one earned - in the visiting 3rd.

One inning later, Carlos Lopez doubled in a pair of runs off reliever Alex Mack, and Dominican tacked on another before the inning was over, building a 7-0 bulge.

Dominican starter Thomas Staffioti encountered some wildness of his own in the bottom half, walking a trio of Spartans, including Tyler Patane with the bases loaded, and Giovanni Dingcong doubled in two more runs to trim the margin to 7-3.

STAC wasted little time claiming the lead, pushing across five runs in a decisive home 5th inning. Joey Pena led off with a walk, ending Staffioti's day in favor of reliever Nick Bird, who did not fare much better. With two on and one out, Deven Del Priore doubled in a run to cut the gap to 7-4, but Greg Dawber was cut down at the plate for the second out.

Nearly but not quite out of the woods, the Chargers saw STAC draw even on a Joe Boland walk and Signore's three-run shot, his second in as many days. The rally was not over, as Patane singled and Dingcong tripled, giving the hosts a lead for the first time at 8-7.

Hannon would do the rest. After replacing Mack in the visiting 5th, the freshman was nearly untouchable, retiring 15 of the 16 batters he would face, allowing a lone single while striking out six to earn the win and improve to 4-0 on the season. Dingcong led the offensive charge, going 3-for-3 with three RBI.

The Spartans return to action on Wednesday, March 30, traveling to face Concordia College in a non-conference tilt starting at 3:30 pm.

Please note - Location for this weekend's scheduled home games vs LIU Post is to be determined. Please check the schedule for the latest updates.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information

- Photo by Dorice Arden