Cary, N.C. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team opened a four-game road trip at the USA Baseball National Complex, falling to the College of Saint Rose, 10-2 on Friday afternoon.

STAC falls to 2-4 on the season, while Saint Rose improves to 2-5 following the first game of the DII Challenge.

How It Happened

Bottom Third

• A Jack McDonald two-out double to left field, scored Jared Reed to give Saint Rose a 1-0 lead.
• Derek Haughey then picked up an RBI triple, with McDonald reaching the plate to double the Golden Knights lead at 2-0.

Bottom Fifth

• The Spartans loaded the bases full of Golden Knights via two singles and a walk, before a two-out passed ball allowed Jaren Reed to come home, making it 3-0.

Bottom Sixth

• Following a Zephaniah Vaughn one-out double to left, James Dolan would deposit a double of his own into left field, bringing Vaughn around to score and increasing the Saint Rose advantage to 4-0.

Top Seventh

• Kyle Lagrutta would get STAC on the scoreboard with a two-out, 2 RBI double, scoring Danny Di Marzo and Sean Lynch to cut the score in half, 4-2.

Bottom Seventh

• A big inning for the Golden Knights got underway with a Samuel Brioso single to center field, followed by a one-out walk to Derek Haughey to give Saint Rose a pair of baserunners. 
• Following a James Ward fly out to left, advancing both Brioso and Haughey, a passed ball brought Brioso in to score to extend the lead to 5-2.
• A Steve Sanders two-out pinch-hit double would then plate Haughey making it 6-2 Saint Rose.
• The final Golden Knights run of the inning came via a Zephaniah Vaughn single, with Sanders scoring to push the scoreboard to 7-2. 

Bottom Eighth

• Vince Venditti would lead off with a walk, followed by a Jared Reed double to right field prompting a STAC pitching change.
• Samuel Brioso picked up an RBI sacrifice fly to right, scoring Venditti and making it an 8-2 Saint Rose advantage.
• A Jack McDonald two-run homer to right would cap the scoring for the Golden Knights, giving them a 10-2 lead, which would be the final score.

Top Performances

• Kyle Lagrutta went 1-for-3 with a double, and two RBI.
• Danny Di Marzo posted one hit in two plate appearances, smacking a double and picking up a run scored.
• Aaron Dona (L, 0-1) got the start for the Spartans and surrendered eight hits and four runs (three earned), with a walk and seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings on the hill.
• Yanni Orfanidis, Andrew Alameda and Chris Ubner combined to pitch 2.2 innings in relief for STAC, yielding six hits, and six runs, while walking two and fanning four.

Facts & Figures

• The Spartans posted two runs on three hits, with no errors, while the Golden Knights earned 10 runs on 17 hits, with no errors.
• STAC pitchers struck out 11 Saint Rose batters, while issuing three walks on the day.
• St. Thomas Aquinas stranded five runners on base, as Pace left seven.

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas (2-4) continues its weekend road trip on Saturday, taking on both the College of Saint Rose (11 a.m.) and Franklin Pierce University (2:30 p.m) in doubleheader action at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.