Flushing, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team dropped the opener of a three-game series with Queens College, 9-2 on Friday afternoon at Hennekens Stadium. STAC falls to 13-17 overall and 6-4 in the ECC, while Queens improves to 17-9 and a perfect 10-0 in conference play.

How it Happened

• Queens plated a two first inning runs via a pair of RBI singles to third base and through the right side to take an early 2-0 lead.
• The host Knights expanded their lead to 3-0 in the second on and RBI single to center field.
• An RBI double down the right field line and a single up the middle increased the Queens lead in fourth to 5-0.
• St. Thomas Aquinas finally broke the shutout in the seventh, as Andrew Jemison's RBI single through the left side, scored Andrew Guerra and Matthew Johnson's double down the left field line, brought home Nick O'Connor to narrow the margin on the scoreboard to three, at 5-2.
• Queens picked up four insurance runs in the eighth, courtesy of two fielder's choices, one of which was aided by Spartan error, and a single up the middle to give the Knights a 9-2 advantage and the victory in the first game of the three-game set.

Top STAC Performances

• Andrew Guerra recorded two hits in four at-bats, including a double. He also picked up an RBI.
• Andrew Jemison had a two-hit afternoon for the Spartans, also recording an RBI and drew a walk.
• Matthew Johnson stroked an RBI double, his only hit in four chances.
• Aaron Dona got the start for the Spartans and surrendered eight hits and five runs (four earned) over four innings. He also walked one and fanned six.
• Chris Ubner, Aidan O'Connor and Yanni Orfanidis were called upon out of the bullpen and combined to give up four hits and four runs (one earned) in four innings of work. The trio also walked three and K'd three.

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas hosts Queens in a Saturday doubleheader at Clover Stadium. First pitch of game one takes place at 3:00 p.m. in Pomona, N.Y.