The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team looks to keep its post-season run intact in Friday night's Winner's Bracket showdown against #3 LeMoyne College in the NCAA Division II East Regional hosted by the University of New Haven at Pace University in Pleasantville, NY.
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How They Got Here - The Spartans swept their way to their fourth East Coast Conference Tournament championship, topping Bridgeport, LIU Post, and host Molloy to earn the automatic qualifier and their sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament. They won their opener against Wilmington on Thursday by an 8-3 count to advance in the Winner's bracket.
LeMoyne battled with New Haven for the top two rankings in the region throughout the season, but an early exit in the Northeast-10 Tournament resulted in the Dolphins' slip to the #3 slot. They opened the East Regional with a victory over upstart NE-10 tourney champ Merrimack in a 3-2 duel.
The Spartans (37-13)- St. Thomas Aquinas was ranked #18 in the nation in this weeks National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, the final one of the season. STAC's offense is sparked by NCBWA First Team All-Region selection Giovanni Dingcong, who leads the ECC in homers (14) and RBI (52), while Nicholas Lucchese was red-hot in earning Most Outstanding Player honors in the conference tourney, and added two hits in the win over Wilmington. Friday's probable starter Chris Cepeda has been outstanding down the stretch, with a 6-0 record over his last seven starts, including a 1.44 ERA with eight runs and 43 hits allowed over 50.0 innings, striking out 51 while walking five.
The Dolphins (34-15-1) - Eight LeMoyne players earned All-Conference honors in the NE-10, as Ben Walsh (.371 avg, 10 HR, 56 RBI) was named Player of the Year, Josiah Gray (11-0, 1.25 ERA, complete-game victory vs Merrimack Thursday) earned Co-Pitcher of the Year honors, and Ryan Murphy (7-3, 2.54 ERA) took home Rookie Pitcher of the Year, while Head Coach Scott Cassidy was voted by his peers as the conference's Coach of the Year.
Unfamiliar foes - STAC and LeMoyne not only cross paths infrequently, but they've played just once in the past six seasons. That meeting was on March 4, 2017, in which Anthony Shkrelja went 3-for-3 with a homer in a 10-2 spring victory in Thomasville, North Carolina.
In the Post-Season - STAC is in its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, won the East Region Championship in 2014 and '17, and were among the three finalists for last year's National Championship. The Spartans are likely the most playoff-tested squad in this year's field; since the 2013 season, STAC has a 31-17 overall post-season record (15-6 ECC; and 16-11 NCAAs). That total includes an impressive 14-7 mark in games when facing elimination.
LeMoyne is making its 18th NCAA Tournament appearance, but only its first since the 2012 season.
What's Next? - The winner of this game will advance to tournament Game 9 on Saturday at 7:00 pm, taking Southern New Hampshire in the Winner's Bracket. The loser will play an elimination contest in Game 8 on Saturday at 3:00 pm against Franklin Pierce. The winner of the regional advances to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship in Cary, North Carolina.
2018 NCAA Division II East Region Championship
Thursday, May 17
Game 1: #3 Le Moyne 3, #6 Merrimack 2
Game 2: #2 St. Thomas Aquinas 8, #7 Wilmington 3
Game 3: #4 Southern New Hampshire 7, #5 Franklin Pierce 2
Friday, May 18
Game 4: Wilmington 10, Merrimack 5 (Merrimack eliminated)
Game 5: Southern New Hampshire 7, #1 New Haven 1
Game 6: Le Moyne vs. St. Thomas Aquinas - 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 20
Game 7: Wilmington vs. New Haven - 11:00 am
Game 8: Game 6 Loser vs. Franklin Pierce - 3:00 pm (loser is eliminated)
Game 9: Southern New Hampshire vs. Game 6 Winner - 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 21
Game 10: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner - 12:00 pm (loser is eliminated)
Game 11: Game 10 Winner vs. Game 9 Loser - 4:00 pm (loser is eliminated)
Monday, May 22
Game 12: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 11 Winner - 12:00 pm
Game 13: Game 12 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser - 4:00 pm (if necessary)