The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team saw its eight-game win streak snapped by Molloy College, with a 4-3 setback to the Lions, in Game One of their Best-of-Three ECC Championship Final series at Mitchel Field in Uniondale, NY on Friday afternoon. Molloy improves to 20-9, while STAC slips to 25-4 on the season.
Leading the Spartan offense in the finals opener were Anthony Maisano, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored and Matthew Johnson, 2-for-3 with a run scored. Andrew Jemison, James Versage and Sean Lynch also picked up a hit each in the contest, with Versage collecting an RBI as well.
Anthony Maisano and James Versage would lead the STAC rally, down 3-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning, as first Masiano would club a 2-RBI single to center field, scoring Matt Johnson and Sean Lynch, followed by James Versage's RBI single to left field, scoring Maisano to knot the game a three.
On the mound, ECC and newly named NCBWA East Region Pitcher of the Year Alex Mack hurled six solid innings for the maroon and gold, but ran into trouble in the middle of the game. The right-hander surrendered six hits and three runs (3 earned), while walking none and fanning five to pick up a no-decision. Justin Baeyens would relieve Mack to start the seventh inning and throw two perfect frames, striking out two Lions.
In the ninth, with the game tied at three, Head Coach Jon Garvey would call upon closer James Reilly to keep the game deadlocked and give the Spartans a chance to walk-off in the bottom of the stanza. The junior righty would pick up the first out of the inning, before surrendering back-to-back hits (double & single) to the Lions. Unfortunately, a wild pitch with runners at first and third, would score the go ahead run to give Molloy the victory. Reilly would be tagged with the hard-luck loss, as he would give up two hits and a run (1 earned), while K'ing one.
ECC FINAL SERIES GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS - MOLLOY 4/STAC 3
| 4th Inning - Jake McCarthy homered to left field, RBI. | 1 - 0 MOL |
| 6th Inning - Jake McCarthy doubled down the left field line, RBI; Peter Theodorellis scored. | 2 - 0 MOL |
| 6th Inning - Matt Overton tripled to right center field, RBI; Jake McCarthy scored. | 3 - 0 MOL |
| 8th Inning - Anthony Maisano singled to center field, 2 RBI; Matthew Johnson scored; Sean Lynch scored. | 3 - 2 MOL |
| 8th Inning - James Versage singled to left field, advanced to second on the throw, RBI; Anthony Maisano scored. | 3 - 3 |
| 9th Inning - Garrett Scavelli advanced to second; Thomas Brady scored on a wild pitch. | 4 - 3 MOL |
| PITCHERS | Innings Pitched | Hits | Runs | Earned Runs | Walks | Strikeouts | Home Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Mack | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Justin Baeyens | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| James Reilly (L, 1-2) | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
FACTS & FIGURES
- The Spartans posted 3 runs on 6 hits, while Molloy earned 4 runs on 8 hits.
- STAC pitchers struck out 8 Lions batters, while issuing no walks.
- St. Thomas Aquinas stranded 7 runners on base. Molloy left 5.
UP NEXT
Game Two of the ECC Championship Final Best-of-Three Series against Molloy College takes place on Saturday, May 22 at Mitchel Field. First pitch is scheduled for 12pm with Molloy College being designated as the home team on the scoreboard.
If necessary, a series tie-breaking Game Three would also take place on Saturday afternoon, approximately 30 minutes following Game Two, with STAC once again serving as the home squad.