The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team won its fifth straight game, a 7-3 decision over Southern Connecticut State in Boca Raton, Florida. Joe Boland's 7th inning home snapped a 3-3 tie as the Spartans improved to 10-3 on the season, dropping SCSU to 4-6-1.

Greg Dawber and Nick Gargan recorded three hits each and Scott Hannon picked up his second win in three days as St. Thomas Aquinas pushed across two runs each in the home 7th and 8th to secure the victory.

STAC pushed across solo runs in the first two innings, with Greg Dawber's single bringing in Joey Pena in the 1st, and Pena coming through with a two-out RBI double one inning later. Wildness derailed Spartan starter Frankie Moscatiello in the 3rd, as a pair of walks both came in to score, tying the game, but STAC regained the edge in the bottom half on Rich Cesca, Jr's RBI grounder, scoring Dawber.

Southern drew even again in the 6th with Kyle Hunt's two-out, run-scoring single, setting the stage for Boland. With one out and nobody on, the junior was sent up as a pinch hitter and his homer to left off reliever Jordan Picini put the Spartans ahead to stay. Nick Gargan came through with an RBI double later in the frame, and Dawber and Gargan each added RBI singles to plate insurance runs in the home 8th.

For St. Thomas Aquinas, the bullpen was stellar, allowing just one run on two hits in six innings of work as the tandem of Chad Sinko, Hannon, Chris Pennell, and Alex Mack combined to close the door. Pena went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, and STAC's pitching combined to hold SCSU to just four hits on the day.

The Spartans head into their Florida finale Thursday morning with a perfect 5-0 record, looking for the sweep in an 11:00 pm rematch against Southern Connecticut. STAC is looking to match its best Florida swing ever, which resulted in a 6-0 record in 2012.

Please note - Due to unplayable field conditions at Provident Bank Park, this weekend's home opener against St. Anselm College will now be played at St. Joseph's College on Long Island. The Saturday, March 19 double-header starts at 12:00 noon, with Sunday's single game at 1:00 pm.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information

- Photo by Dorice Arden