Uniondale, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team dropped a 6-3 decision to Queens College on Friday, in the winner's bracket game of the ECC Baseball Tournament at Mitchel Field on Long Island.

#4 seeded STAC falls to 23-22 on the year, and sees its seven game winning streak come to an end. Meanwhile, #2 Queens improves to 26-15 on the season and advances to Saturday's ECC Tournament Championship, which last occurred for the Knights back in 1998 in the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference.

How it Happened

• Jason Rodopoulous opened the scoring for Queens in the sixth inning on an RBI double down the left field line, scoring Reed Hoskins to make it 1-0.
• The very next batter, ECC Player & Rookie of the Year Marc Cisco, launched a two-run homer to left field to extend the Knights lead to 3-0.
• In the bottom of the stanza, STAC cut its deficit to one, at 3-2, on a Christopher Conti 2-RBI double to left-center field, bringing both David Potenza and Andrew Jemison to the plate.
• Queens would add three insurance runs in the eighth inning as first Jason Rodopoulous smacked a two-run home run to left field, making it 5-2. Then, Lou Antos' steal of third base, combined with a throwing error by the STAC catcher, allowed the third baseman to trot home, pushing the score to 6-2.
• In the bottom of the eighth, STAC attempted to start a rally, as Kyle Lagrutta's double down the left field line, scored Christopher Conti to make in 6-3.
• The Spartans would continue to put pressure on the Knights pitching staff in the ninth, getting two runners aboard via a single to right field (Minett) and a double down the left field line (Potenza) with two out. However, a ground out to third base would end the festivities and advance Queens to the ECC Tournament final.
• John Archer got the start for the Spartans and hurled 5.1 perfect innings, before surrendering four hits and three runs to pick up the hard-luck defeat (6-5). Archer also struck out four and walked none in his outing.
• Bryan Krolikowski, Aidan O'Connor and TJ Gregory combined to throw three innings in relief, allowing five hits and three runs (two earned), while walking one and K-ing one.

Top STAC Performances

• Christopher Conti went 1-for-3 with a double, 2 RBI and a run scored.
• David Potenza had two hits in four at-bats, with a double and a run scored.
• Billy Minett recored a multi-hit game (2-4).
• Andrew Jemison, Kyle Lagrutta and Gregory DiGiaro all posted hits on the afternoon.
• John Archer (L, 5-6) - 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas will have a quick turnaround, playing #1 Molloy College in an elimination game on Friday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Uniondale, with the loser being eliminated from the tournament and the winner moving on to face Queens College for the ECC Baseball Championship on Saturday (May 14) at Noon.