Sparkill, N.Y. - Timely hitting, including home runs by Trinadey Santiago and Eliana Raposo, helped to catapult St. Thomas Aquinas College to a 7-3 win over Mercy University on Friday and earn a berth in the championship round of the East Coast Conference Softball Tournament.
Top-seeded STAC, now 30-17, will meet fourth-seeded D'Youville University on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at Spartan Field. D'Youville eliminated both No. 3 Molloy University (4-3) and No. 2 Mercy University (10-3) to advance in the four-team, double elimination tourney. The Spartans will only need to defeat the Saints once on Saturday to win their third consecutive conference title, while D'Youville would need to beat STAC twice to capture their first-ever league crown.
The victory over the Mavericks also gave St. Thomas Aquinas its 30th win for a third straight season.
Mercy opened the scoring with a leadoff homer from Allison Murphy in first inning to make it 1-0. However, Trinadey Santigo answered with a two-run blast to left field in the fourth to give the Spartans the 2-1 advantage.
STAC would not relinquish the lead during the remainder of the contest, and would even add to it with runs in the sixth and seventh innings to blow the game wide open. A Trinadey Santigo fielder's choice, combined with a Mavericks error, allowed Aliya Feerick to score to make it 3-1, followed by Jessica Feerick's RBI single which put the maroon and gold up by three at 4-1. An Eliana Raposo two-run home run and another Jess Feerick run-scoring base knock extended the Spartans' lead to 7-1.
The visiting Mavs would try to claw back into the game with a two-out, two RBI single via Allison Murphy in the seventh to make it 7-3, but starting pitcher Sarah Clancy would work out of trouble to secure her team's spot in the ECC title game.
Speaking of Clancy, the lefty went the distance for St. Thomas Aquinas, allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts to run her record to 17-9 on the year.
Saturday's championship round appearance is STAC's fourth in the last five seasons.
2025 EAST COAST CONFERENCE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Thursday, May 1
Game 1: No. 4 D'Youville - 0 vs. No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas - 3
Game 2: No. 3 Molloy - 3 vs. No. 2 Mercy - 4
Friday, May 2
Game 3: No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas 7 vs. No. 2 Mercy 3
Game 4: No. 4 D'Youville 4 vs. No. 3 Molloy 3
Game 5: No. 2 Mercy 3 vs. No. 4 D'Youville 10
Saturday, May 3
Game 6 – 11:00 AM – No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. No. 4 D'Youville
Game 7 – If Necessary – Game 6 Participants (If winner of Game 5 wins Game 6)
Game would begin 30 minutes after field prep is completed