Pomona, N.Y. - A bases-loaded wild pitch in the eighth inning of Thursday's East Coast Conference series opener with Queens College, broke a 4-4 tie and propelled the St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team to a 5-4 home victory at Clover Stadium.

The win keeps STAC's postseason hopes alive, and moves them to 13-27 overall and 6-11 in ECC play, while Queens slips to 16-25 and 7-10.

Queens got the party started early, as Nick O'Connor hit a solo shot to right-center field in the first inning, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. The Spartans answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame, courtesy of Chris Ewing's run-scoring single and a Knights throwing error which eventually scored Ewing to make it 2-1. Jake Levesque knotted the score at 2-2 in the fourth on an RBI single, before Ryan Hillery and Kyle DeCresce home runs in the fourth and fifth innings put the maroon and gold back up by two at 4-2.

The Knights fought back to even the score at 4-4 in the seventh inning on the strength of Matt Filip's RBI triple and Penn Sealey's run-scoring sacrifice fly. Unfortunately for Queens, luck was not on their side for much longer, as a bases-loaded wild pitch allowed Michael Zeis to score what would turn out to be the game-winning run for the Spartans in a 5-4 final.

Orin Winslow took the ball for the maroon and gold, allowing two runs on eights hits with three walks and two Ks over five and two-thirds innings pitched. Winslow earned a no-decision for his efforts. John Dezago, Jeremiah Vega and Kyle Rogers all saw action out of the Spartans bullpen, with Vega (W, 1-1) picking up the win while only giving up a hit in an inning and two-thirds of relief. Rogers garnered his third save of the campaign with a perfect ninth inning on the mound.

STAC continues their critical four-game set with Queens on Friday, May 2 in a doubleheader at Hennekens Stadium in Flushing, New York. The first pitch of game one is set for noon.