West Haven, Conn. - Ninth inning RBI singles by Kyle DeCresce and David Potenza helped the St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team rally back for a 9-8 victory over the University of New Haven to open a five-game series.

STAC improves to 18-17 on the year, following Wednesday's contest at Frank Vieira Field. Meanwhile, New Haven moves to 21-10 overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• New Haven struck for five runs in the third inning. First, Andrew Blanco's double down the left field line, scored Kenneth Franquiz to make it 1-0.
• A Tyler Wells 2 RBI single through the right side then brought both Noah Budzik and Blanco to the plate to give the Chargers a 3-0 advantage.
• Robert Taylor's ground ball double play with the bases loaded forced Wells home and gave UNH a 4-0 lead.
• An RBI double down the left field line by Josh Lester scored Andrew Cain to make it a 5-0 game.
• Kyle Lagrutta's single to right field in the fourth inning, broke the shutout for the Spartans, as C.J. Cumbo scored to cut the deficit to 5-1.
• STAC made it a 5-2 game when a throwing error by the New Haven catcher, allowed Andrew Guerra to make his way home.
• In the fifth inning, Kyle Lagrutta brought the Spartans even closer on the scoreboard with a 2 RBI single to left-centerfield, as both David Potenza and Andrew Jemison scored to make it 5-4.
• New Haven got a run back in the sixth via Owen Pincince's sacrifice fly to centerfield, plating teammate Shaun Callahan to put the hosts ahead by two, 6-4.
• The maroon and gold answered a half inning later when a bases loaded walk to Nick O'Connor forced in David Potenza to make it 6-5.
• Andrew Jemison's double to left field, combined with a major miscue by the UNH left fielder, brought home Christopher Conti and Kyle DeCresce to give STAC its first lead of the day at 7-6.
• The pesky Chargers would not go away and answered the Spartans runs with two of their own in the bottom of the frame. An Andrew Cain single up the middle scored Shaun Callahan to tie the score at 7-7.
• New Haven retook the lead on another single up the middle, this time by Robert Taylor, with Cain heading home to make it 8-7.
• This set the stage for a spectacular comeback in the top of the ninth by St. Thomas Aquinas. Kyle Lagrutta first led things off with a single to left field.
• Following the insertion of a pinch runner (Michael Zeis) and a defensive substitution in left field (Zack Pincince for Owen Pincince), Nick O'Connor then grounded out to the pitcher, moving Zeis to second base.
• The next Spartans batter, Gregory DiGiaro worked a walk to put two on with one out.
• Billy Minett came to the plate next and was unable to move the runners as he struck out looking for the second out.
• STAC tied the game up at 8-8 on Kyle DeCresce's RBI single to left-centerfield, with Michael Zeis coming in to score.
• David Potenza recorded the game-deciding hit on another RBI single (left field), which allowed DiGiaro to score from second base to give the Spartans the 9-8 lead.
• In the bottom of the stanza, Jeremiah Vega slammed the door shut on the game with a 1-2-3 inning. Vega picked up two swinging strikeouts and a flyout to left to end things and give STAC its biggest victory of the 2023 season.

STAC PERFORMANCES:

• Kyle Lagrutta went 3-for-5, with 3 RBIs on the afternoon.
• Andrew Jemison (3-for-6, Double, RBI, Run), Andrew Guerra (1-for-5, Double, Run) and David Potenza (2-for-3, Double, RBI, 2 Runs) provided an extra base hits for the Spartans.
• STAC also received hits from Kyle DeCresce (3-for-5, RBI, Run).
• Will Kindle got the start for the maroon and golf on Wednesday and picked up a no-decision, pitching three innings and allowing six hits and five runs, while walking two Chargers batters.
• Relievers Robert Williams, Ricardo Gonzalez, John Dezago and Jeremiah Vega were each tasked with keeping STAC in the game, and they did just that. The four Spartans combined to allow eight hits and three runs over the final six innings, while walking three and fanning four. Vega earned his first win of the season (1-0), allowing only a hit and striking out two in one and a third innings worth of work.

FACTS & FIGURES:

• The Spartans posted 9 runs on 12 hits, with 2 errors, while New Haven earned 8 runs on 14 hits, with 3 errors.
• STAC pitchers struck out 4 Chargers batters, while issuing 5 walks on the day.
• St. Thomas Aquinas stranded 10 runners on base. Meanwhile New Haven also left 10 in the contest.

UP NEXT:

STAC heads back to West Haven, Connecticut on Friday, April 21 for a twin bill with these same New Haven Chargers. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Frank Vieira Field.