The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team split an East Coast Conference pair at Mercy, rallying for a 3-2 victory in the opener.on Giovanni Dingcong's walkoff homer before dropping the nightcap, 2-0. Sam Vincenzo threw a strong seven innings in the second game but Mercy rebounded for the split, with the Spartans now at 14-6 overall and 2-1 in the ECC, and Mercy standing at 8-11, 1-2.

Matt Kostolos went the distance as STAC rallied from a late two-run deficit for the second consecutive day to claim the victory. Mercy jumped on top in the 3rd when, with two out and nobody on, Nick Arcabascio tripled to left before coming in on Scott Hagan's infield single. Two innings later, the Mavericks went up a pair when a throwing error yielded an unearned run.

STAC battled back in the bottom of the 6th, loading the bases with none out off Mercy's James Patterson on a single and a pair of walks. Joe Boland followed with a tapper to the mound with the throw coming home for the first out, but the double play attempt struck Boland heading for first, with the carom allowing the tying runs to cross the plate.

Both starters threw zeroes from there as the score remained deadlocked until Dingcong nailed Patterson's first offering of the final frame deep to left, sending the Spartans home with their second straight comeback win.

Kostolos struck out nine while scattering just six hits, allowing just one earned run in improving to 3-0. Deven Del Priore had a pair of hits to lead the Spartans. The game was halted for 39 minutes in the second inning due to a rain delay.

In Game 2, the Mavericks plated a first-inning run on a wild pitch by Vincenzo and that would be enough as Matt Nalbone worked the seven-inning complete game shutout. Mercy added a big insurance run in the 6th on an Arcibascio RBI single, as Nalbone scattered just four hits, with St. Thomas Aquinas stranding three runners on third base over the seven innings. Vincenzo allowed just five hits in seven strong innings, taking the tough loss.

The four-game ECC series concludes on Monday, March 28, when the Spartans again travel to Mercy for a 3:00 pm first pitch.

Schedule notes

- Tuesday's Home Game (March 29) vs. Dominican will not be played at Provident Bank Park; the Spartans will host the 3:30 start with site to be determined.

- Wednesday's (March 30) originally scheduled home game will now be played at Concordia, with STAC now hosting the rematch on April 20.

- Friday's (April 1) scheduled home game against LIU Post is likely to be moved from Provident Bank Park, site TBD.

Please check the schedule page for the latest updates and information

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information

- Photo by Dorice Arden