Pomona, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team dropped two of three games in its weekend series with Queens College, following a split of Saturday contests at Clover Stadium. The Spartans won the opener 17-9, before losing the night cap to the Knights, 10-7. 

STAC moves to 14-18 overall and 7-5 in ECC play, while Queens goes to 18-10 and 11-1.

How it Happened - Game One

• Queens scored the first three runs of the game in the first inning via a 2-RBI triple and and RBI Single to give the visitors a quick 3-0 lead.
• St. Thomas Aquinas put up a nine spot in the second, with a Kyle Lagrutta double, David Potenza single, Billy Minett single, Matthew Johnson bases loaded walk, Gregory DiGiaro grandslam, and Danny Di Marzo double to hold a 9-3 advantage.
• The Knights fought back to tie the game at 9-9 in the fifth on a pair of bases loaded walks, a double and a single.
• Andrew Jemison gave the Spartans back the lead at 10-9 in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single.
• STAC extended its lead by four in the sixth on a David Potenza RBI single, which resulted in an error that scored an additional run, making it 12-9. Then a Nick O'Connor two-run home run increased the Spartan lead to 14-9.
• In the eighth, the Spartans picked up three runs on the strength of a bases loaded hit by pitch to Andrew Jemison and a 2-RBI single by Gregory DiGiaro, which closed the scoring at 17-9.
• Starter John Archer picked up a no-decision, in four innings of work. Archer gave up six hits and seven runs (four earned), while walking three and striking out four.
• Relievers Mateo Reyes and Yanni Orfanidis combined the hurl five innings. The pair surrendered four hits and two runs, while walking two and fanning seven. Orfanidis picked up the win (3-0) on the strength of five solid innings of pitching. The righty gave up only three hits and a walk, while K'ing seven Knights batters.

How it Happened - Game Two

• The night cap began just like the opener, with Queens getting on the scoreboard first on an RBI sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
• Gregory DiGiaro's RBI double to left field in the bottom of the first, scored Andrew Jemison to tie the game 1-1.
• Queens retook the lead (3-1) in the second on a 2-RBI double and expanded the advantage to 4-1 on an RBI double in the third and 5-1 on a fielding error in the fourth.
• STAC was able to get a run back in the bottom of the fourth on a Danny Di Marzo sac-fly to right field, which allowed Gregory DiGiaro to come home, making it 5-2.
• The teams traded runs in the fifth, as first Queens picked up a run on a single and subsequent error by the STAC defense to make it 6-2. However, in the bottom of the inning, STAC would get the run back on a Knights fielding error, which allowed Kyle Lagrutta to reach first and bring Nick O'Connor to the plate to narrow the lead to 6-3.
• Queens added four insurance runs in the top of the seventh on a 3-RBI double and RBI triple to take a 10-3 lead.
• Those additional runs would wind up being huge for the Knights, because in the bottom of the seventh, the Spartans put on a fierce rally, scoring four times. First Gregory DiGiaro's 2-RBI double to center field, brought home both Nick O'Connor and Andrew Jemison to cut the QC lead to 10-5. Then a Kyle Lagrutta ground out, scored Matthew Johnson, followed by Andrew Guerra's RBI single to center field, which allowed DiGiaro to score, making it just a 10-7 game.
• Queens was forced to bring in a reliver to shut the door and did just that, as they were able to pick up the final two outs of the game with runners on base.
• Mark Barillas (2-1) got the ball in game two and hurled three innings, giving up six hits and four runs (three earned). He also walked two and struck out two, but was charged with his first loss of the season.
• Bryan Krolikowski and Justin Baeyens were called upon from the bullpen and combined to throw four innings in relief. The duo surrendered nine hits and six runs (four earned), while walking one and fanning seven.

Up Next

STAC opens another crucial three-game ECC set, this time with Mercy College, beginning next Friday (April 22) at Clover Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Pomona, N.Y.