Myrtle Beach, S.C. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team closed out its four-day Myrtle Beach tour on Sunday morning, falling to Southern New Hampshire University, 10-9 at The Ripken Experience.

STAC returns to Sparkill with a 1-3 record, while SNHU improves to 4-1 following the non-conference contest between the two perennial East Region baseball powers.

How It Happened

• A Sam Henrie RBI groundout with one away in the first inning, scored teammate Danniel Rivera to make it 1-0 SNHU.
• Matthew Johnson tied the game in the second, with an two-out bases loaded RBI single to left field, plating both Andrew Guerra and Danny Di Marzo to give STAC a 2-1 lead.
• Southern New Hampshire would score five in the third inning, as first Nick Schwartz would draw a walk with the bases juiced, scoring Sam Henrie to knot the game at 2-2.
• With the bases still full of Penmen, Dylan O'Sullivan would stroke a triple to right center field, bringing home Dakota Mulcay, Cam Caraher and Nick Schwartz to give SNHU a 5-2 advantage.
• Ricky Jimenez would add another run for Southern New Hampshire via an RBI single to left field, with Dylan O'Sullivan coming home to make it a 6-2 game.
• St. Thomas Aquinas would answer back with three runs of their own in the top of the fourth inning, as Matthew Johnson got it started with a two-out RBI double to left field, scoring Kyle Lagrutta to make it 6-3.
• Following an Andrew Jemison single, Nick O'Connor singled to right field, bringing home Matthew Johnson to cut the Spartan deficit to two at 6-4.
• Gregory DiGiaro would close the scoring in the frame by picking up an RBI single to left, with Andrew Jemison coming around to score and making it a 6-5 game.
• SNHU would answer back in the bottom of the fouth, with two runs of their own. A Cam Caraher two-out RBI single to center field, brought home Dakota Mulcay to restore a two-run Penmen advantage, 7-5.
• Nick Schwartz would then smack a double to left field, plating Caraher to make it an 8-5 game.
• STAC did not go quietly in this one, getting those runs back immediately in the top of the fifth inning. Andrew Guerra picked up an RBI single to left, with two men on and no one out, scoring Danny Di Marzo and SNHU lead back to two at 8-6.
• Following a pitching change by Southern New Hampshire and a strikeout, Matthew Johnson would reach first base on a fielder's choice with Kyle Lagrutta coming around to score the Spartans seventh run on a throwing error by the SNHU second baseman.
• In the bottom of the sixth, the Penmen would strike for another run, this time with two men on and one out. Cam Caraher singled to right field, with Sam Henrie scoring to push the lead back to three at 9-7.
• Both teams would score runs in the seventh, first STAC would cut the deficit back to one at 9-8 via Kyle Lagrutta RBI single to center field, plating Danny Di Marzo, before SNHU would get the scoreboard back to a two-run lead with Idelson Tavares hitting a one-out RBI sac-fly to right, scoring Danniel Rivera to make it 10-8.
• St. Thomas Aquinas would attempt a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, as first Danny Di Marzo would double to left and pinch-hitter Sean Lynch singled to the shortstop to put two on with no one out.
• Di Marzo would then be the Spartans ninth run of the day, making his way home on a wild pitch and putting the pressure on the Southern New Hampshire pitching staff, with Sean Lynch also advancing to second base on the play.
• Back-to-back strikeouts by Andrew Guerra and Joseph Scamardella would put the game on the shoulders of Matthew Johnson. Johnson would subsequently ground out to third base, ending the game and giving SNHU the 10-9 victory.

Top Performances

• Matthew Johnson went 2-for-5 with a double, 3 RBI and a run scored.
• Danny Di Marzo smacked a two doubles in three at-bats, while plating four runs and drawing two walks.
• Kyle Lagrutta had three hits in four at-bats, including a double, with an RBI and two runs scored.
• Andrew Jemison and Andrew Guerra combined to go 4-for-9 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
• Will Kindl (L, 0-1) got the start for the Spartans and surrendered nine hits, six runs and a walk, while fanning three in three innings of work.
• Mark Barillas made his season debut for STAC out of the bullpen and pitched 2.1 innings, giving up six hits and three runs, while also striking out two.
• Yanni Orfanidis, Orin Winslow and James Reilly combined to pitch the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, and yielded two hits, a run and walked two.

Facts & Figures

• The Spartans posted nine runs on 14 hits, with one error, while the Penmen earned 10 runs on 17 hits, with an error.
• STAC pitchers struck out five SNHU batters, while issuing three walks on the day.
• St. Thomas Aquinas stranded 10 runners on base, as Southern New Hampshire left 11.

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas (1-3) travels to Pace University on Wednesday, March 2. First pitch between the Spartans and Setters is set for 3:00 p.m at Peter X. Finnerty Field in Pleasantville, N.Y.