Pomona, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team opened their final East Coast Conference regular season series on Thursday, hosting D'Youville University in the first of a four-game set at Clover Stadium. Taking advantage of timely hitting and a few defensive miscues by the Spartans, the visiting Saints cruised to a 7-2 victory.
STAC falls to 24-20 overall and 13-14 in ECC play, while D'Youville moves to 17-28 and 12-15.
7-2 D'Youville
In an ECC matchup St. Thomas Aquinas dug an early hole it couldn't escape, falling 7–2 to D'Youville after a decisive second inning swung the game.
Early Pressure Turns Into Big Inning
D'Youville wasted little time applying pressure, striking first in the opening frame on an RBI single from Kevin Del vecchio to take a 1–0 lead.
The game turned in the second inning, where D'Youville capitalized on traffic and defensive miscues to break things open. A run-scoring groundout by Jacob Cooper started the rally, followed by an RBI double from Billy Morris. Moments later, Colby Wilson delivered the biggest blow—a two-run home run to right-center—capping a four-run inning and extending the lead to 5–0.
Spartans Show Signs of Life
St. Thomas Aquinas responded with runs in the middle innings to chip away at the deficit.
In the third, Michael Zeis drove in Anthony Dimarco with an RBI single to get the Spartans on the board. An inning later, Alex Celeiro added a sacrifice fly to bring home Nick Oelcher, cutting the deficit to 5–2.
Despite the momentum shift, the Spartans were unable to string together further offense, leaving opportunities on the bases throughout the game.
D'Youville Adds Insurance Late
D'Youville created separation again in the seventh inning, taking advantage of defensive lapses.
With aggressive baserunning, Jake Ferris helped manufacture a run that scored on a fielding error, and another throwing error allowed an additional unearned run to cross the plate. Those insurance runs pushed the lead to 7–2 and effectively sealed the outcome.
Pitching Holds Firm After Early Damage
After a tough opening, the Spartans bullpen settled in. Frailin Jimenez delivered three scoreless innings, and Christian Simonsen followed with four innings of work, allowing just two unearned runs while keeping the game within reach.
However, the early deficit proved too much to overcome. Sean Duke was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) over two innings.
On the other side, Evan Froelich earned the win with five solid innings, limiting the Spartans to two runs. Mihir Manerikar was sharp in relief, tossing four shutout innings to close out the game.
Opportunities Missed and Errors Costly
St. Thomas Aquinas outhit mistakes rather than the opponent, recording nine hits but leaving 11 runners on base and going quiet over the final five innings.
Defensively, four errors proved costly, directly contributing to multiple unearned runs that widened the gap. D'Youville, meanwhile, took advantage of key moments and combined timely hitting with disciplined pitching to control the game.
Top Performers
St. Thomas Aquinas
- Michael Zeis: 2-for-5, RBI
- Anthony Dimarco: 1-for-5, 2B, R
- Nick Oelcher: 1-for-4, 2B, R
D'Youville
- Colby Wilson: 3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
- Billy Morris: 2-for-5, 2 2B, RBI, R
- Kevin Del vecchio: 2-for-4, RBI, R
Up Next
STAC hosts D'Youville in a doubleheader on Friday, May 1 at Clover Stadium. First pitch of game one is set for 4:00 p.m.