The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team swept Saturday's double-header by scores of 9-1 and 1-0 over St. Anselm College. Matt Kostolos and Sam Vincenzo had strong starts to earn wins as the Spartans improved to 12-4 overall, while St. A's fell to 2-12.

Deven DelPriore had three of STAC's 15 hits to lead the game one attack, while Kostolos improved to 2-0 on the season with 12 strikeouts and no walks in seven dominant innings. In the nightcap, Vincenzo scattered just three hits over 6.2 shutout frames, with George Navadel earning the save in dramatic fashion. With runners at second and third and two out in the final frame, Navadel's first pitch was in the dirt, but catcher Jon McGugan tossed to the covering pitcher to record the final out at the plate.

St. Thomas Aquinas went to work early in the opener with a run in the 2nd and two more in the 3rd. With one out in the 2nd, Deven DelPriore and Joe Boland hit back-to-back doubles to open the scoring, and Giovanni Dingcong's RBI grounder put the hosts up a pair, before Greg Dawber came in on a wild pitch to make the score 3-0.

Dingcong's RBI single in the 5th helped the Spartans put the game away, as Boland followed with a run-scoring single, and Nick Puciarelli drove in a pair with a hit to open a 7-0 gap.

That was more than enough for Kostolos, who was outstanding in scattering just five hits. Rich Cesca, Jr's sac fly was followed by a Del Priore RBI single, closing out the STAC scoring, with only an unearned run in the final inning blemishing the visiting scoresheet.

Game two was a much more tidy affair, with Vincenzo locking up with Hawks' ace Joseph Levasseur. After Joseph Pena's leadoff single, Greg Dawber had the at-bat of the game. Behind on the count, he fouled off several pitches before Pena stole second and advanced to third when Levasseur uncorked a wild pitch. Dawber's RBI ground out proved to be the only run of the game, though there was high drama in the St. Anselm 7th.

Vincenzo cruised through six innings and retired the first batter in the final frame on one pitch before Nick Bragole's single to left put the tying run on. An infield error opened the door and an ensuing grounout put the go-ahead runs in scoring position, bringing on Navadel. STAC's closer needed just one pitch to earn his 5th save, taking the throw from McGugan to record the final out at home.

Pena and Gargan had two hits each while the Hawks were held to just three overall, as Vincenzo improved to 2-0 in a game that took just 1:28 to complete. Levasseur was the tough-luck loser, falling to 2-2.

The three game weekend set wraps up with a single on Sunday, March 20, with first pitch set for 12:00 noon. The game will also be played at St. Joseph's College Sports Complex in Patchogue, NY.

 - Please note - due to the possibility of inclement weather, Sunday's game time has been CHANGED to 12:00 noon.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information

- Photo by Dorice Arden