Uniondale, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team opened the East Coast Conference-portion of its schedule on Saturday afternoon, taking on rivals Molloy University in a twin bill at the Mitchel Field Athletic Complex on Long Island. In the pre-Easter doubleheader, the host Lions scored 13-10 and 12-2 victories over the Spartans to take the first two games of the four-game conference series.
STAC slides to 9-15 overall and 0-2 in the ECC, losing its eighth and ninth straight contests. Meanwhile, Molloy improves to 18-7 and 4-2 on the year.
HOW IT HAPPENED - GAME ONE:
Top 2nd Inning - Billy Minett singled to left field, with Gregory DiGiaro advancing to second base, while Chris Ewing scored. 1-0 STAC
Top 2nd Inning - David Potenza homered to left field, also scoring Billy Minett and Gregory DiGiaro. 4-0 STAC
Btm 2nd Inning - Nicholas Dagnello tripled to right field, scoring both Anthony Manisero and Matt Yip. 4-2 STAC
Btm 2nd Inning - Patrick Sanchez doubled to left-centerfield, bringing Nicholas Dagnello to the plate. 4-3 STAC
Btm 2nd Inning - Aidan Larkin flied out to centerfield on a sacrifice fly, advancing Joe Burriesci advanced to third base and scoring Patrick Sanchez. GAME TIED 4-4
Top 3rd Inning - Chris Ewing doubled to centerfield, ground-rule with Sean Lynch scoring. 5-4 STAC
Top 4th Inning - C.J. Cumbo grounded out to the shortstop as David Potenza came to the plate with an unearned run. 6-4 STAC
Top 5th Inning - Chris Ewing flied out to left field on a sacrifice fly, sending Sean Lynch home with another unearned run. 7-4 STAC
Btm 5th Inning - Anthony Manisero doubled to left-centerfield, scoring Matt Yip. 7-5 STAC
Btm 5th Inning - Nicholas Dagnello singled to right field with Anthony Manisero coming to the plate. 7-6 STAC
Top 6th Inning - Joseph Scamardella singled through the left side with C.J. Cumbo advancing to second base and then third base on the throw. Both David Potenza and Billy Minett made their way home on the play. 9-6 STAC
Top 6th Inning - Sean Lynch grounded into double play with a relay throw from the shortstop to the first baseman. Joseph Scamardella was called out on the play, while C.J. Cumbo scored. 10-6 STAC
Btm 6th Inning - JJ DeVito homered to right-centerfield. 10-7 STAC
Btm 8th Inning - Matt Yip homered to left-centerfield, also scoring Gavin McAlonie. 10-9 STAC
Btm 8th Inning - Joe Burriesci singled to centerfield and advanced to second base on the throw, as Patrick Sanchez advanced to third base and both Nicholas Dagnello and Anthony Manisero. 11-10 MOLLOY
Btm 8th Inning - Charlie Imhof struck out swinging but reached first base on a wild pitch, as Joe Burriesci advanced to third base and Patrick Sanchez made his way to the plate. 12-10 MOLLOY
Btm 8th Inning - Charlie Imhof advanced to second base, as Joe Burriesci scored on a wild pitch. 13-10 MOLLOY
HOW IT HAPPENED - GAME TWO:
Btm 2nd Inning - Patrick Sanchez doubled to left field, with Nicholas Dagnello advancing to third base and Matt Yip scored. 1-0 MOLLOY
Btm 2nd Inning - Anthony Marsillo singled to pitcher, brining both Patrick Sanchez and Nicholas Dagnello to the plate. 3-0 MOLLOY
Btm 2nd Inning - JJ DeVito tripled to right-center field, scoring both Joe Burriesci (earned run) and Anthony Marsillo (unearned run). 5-0 MOLLOY
Btm 2nd Inning - Gavin McAlonie reached first base on a throwing error by the shortstop, bringing JJ DeVito to the plate with an unearned run. 6-0 MOLLOY
Btm 4th Inning - Gavin McAlonie singled to right field, advancing Aidan Larkin to third base and scoring Anthony Marsillo. 7-0 MOLLOY
Btm 4th Inning - Matt Yip homered to left field, also scoring Gavin McAlonie and Aidan Larkin. 10-0 MOLLOY
Btm 5th Inning - JJ DeVito singled through the left side, sending both Anthony Marsillo and Patrick Sanchez to the plate. 12-0 MOLLOY
Top 6th Inning - Brian Klumpp homered to right-centerfield. 12-1 MOLLOY
Top 7th Inning - Tyler Haydt homered down the left field line. 12-2 MOLLOY
STAC PERFORMANCES:
- David Potenza smacked two hits in five at-bats, including a double and a home run, with three RBI and three runs scored. He was also walked once.
- Tyler Haydt (1-for-1, RBI, Run) and Brian Klumpp (1-for-2, RBI, Run) both went deep for the Spartans on the afternoon.
- Chris Ewing stroked a pair of doubles in five at-bats, while driving in two runs and scoring another.
- STAC also received multi-hit performances from Billy Minett (2-for-6, 2B, RBI, 2 Runs), Sean Lynch (2-for-7, 2B, 2 Runs) and Kyle DeCresce (2-for-8).
- Andrew Alameda took to the mound for STAC in game one on Saturday and threw five innings, allowing 10 hits and six runs, while walking three and striking out two.
- Andrew Speranza and Kyle Rogers came on in relief for the maroon and gold and combined to give up seven runs on six hits, while walking three and fanning five in three innings of work. Speranza (0-3) was tagged with the loss for surrendering five runs on five hits, with two walks and four strikeouts over 2.2 innings.
- John Archer (L, 2-3) got the ball in game two and pitched four innings, allowing 10 runs (8 earned) on six hits, while walking one and striking out one Lions hitter.
- Jason Basilicata and Anthony Holtje both saw time out of the bullpen for the Spartans, pitching the perfect final two innings and combining to give up four hits and two runs, while punching out four Molloy batters.
FACTS & FIGURES:
- The Spartans totaled 12 runs on 14 hits, with 4 errors, while Molloy earned 25 runs on 26 hits, 3 errors.
- STAC pitchers struck out 12 Lions batters, while issuing 7 walks on the day.
- St. Thomas Aquinas stranded 12 runners on base, while Molloy left 13 in the doubleheader.
UP NEXT:
STAC will open the home-portion of its campaign, hosting Molloy University on Monday, April 1 (2:00 p.m.) at Clover Stadium in Pomona, New York. Due to the threat of rain throughout the day in the Lower Hudson Valley, the scheduled doubleheader will now be reduced to a single contest, with the second game to be made up at a later date.