Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team battled back from an early 10-0 deficit, but fell short in its comeback attempt against Pace University, 12-7 on Wednesday afternoon at Clover Stadium.

STAC slips to 9-12 on the season, while Pace wins its sixth straight contest and moves to 16-2 overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Matthew Rinaldi opened the scoring for Pace by hitting a first inning two-run homer into the right field short porch to make it 2-0.
• Pace posted a five-run second inning, with Matthew Rinaldi first driving in yet another run, with an RBI sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Luke Rivera to extend the Setters lead to 3-0.
• A Hunter Goldstein single up the middle allowed Robbie Caffrey to score, making it 4-0, followed by Mitchell McCabe's triple to centerfield, with Goldstein making his to the plate, increasing the Setters lead to 5-0.
• Next, Luke Jacobi worked a walk, with ball four also turning into a Jeremiah Vega wild pitch, scoring McCabe to make it 6-0.
• Anthony Labita closed the scoring in the frame with an RBI single through the right side to push Jacobi to the plate and give Pace the touchdown lead, 7-0.
• A Robbie Caffrey sac-fly to center field in the fourth, brought Mason Baronian home to give the visitors an 8-0 advantage.
• In the fifth inning, a Luke Jacobi RBI double to right-centerfield and an Anthony Labita RBI single through the right side, scored both Hunter Goldstein and Jacobi to make it 10-0 Setters.
• STAC began its long road back in the bottom of the frame, as Andrew Jemison's double down the left field line, scored Joseph Scamardella to break the shutout at 10-1.
• Three Spartan sixth inning runs got the maroon and gold closer on the scoreboard. First, a Peter DeVito groundout to first base with the bases juiced, allowed Gregory DiGiaro to score. Then, David Potenza singled down the left field line, plating both Joseph Scamardella and Nick O'Connor to cut the deficit to six at 10-4.
• Pace posted a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth on RBI singles by Hunter Goldstein and Mitchell McCabe to increase their advantage to 12-4.
• The Spartans continued to battle until the final out of the bottom of the stanza. Kyle Lagrutta's two-out double to centerfield scored both Billy Minett and Gregory DiGiaro to make it 12-6.
• A Nick O'Connor single to right field, in the very next at-bat, brought home Lagrutta and make it a 12-7 game.
• However, the plans for a comeback would end for the Spartans when Joseph Scamardella flied out to left field to end the game.

STAC PERFORMANCES

• Andrew Jemison went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. He also drew a walk.
• Gregory DiGiaro (2-for-4), recorded and 2 runs scored.
• David Potenza stroked two hits in four at-bats, with 2 RBI.
• Kyle Lagrutta picked up a double in five at-bats, while Nick O'Connor (2 hits), Billy Minett (1 hit) and Joseph Scamardella (1 hit) added to the hit totals for the Spartans
• John Dezago got the ball for Spartans in the non-conference tilt and surrendered six hits and six runs in an inning and two-thirds worth of work, while also walking three Setters batters. Dezago (0-1) was charged with his first defeat of the season.
• The Spartans bullpen trio of Jeremiah Vega, Ricardo Gonzalez and Will Kindl combined to hurl seven and a third innings, giving up nine hits and six runs, while walking six and fanning two. 

FACTS & FIGURES

• The Spartans posted 7 runs on 11 hits, with 2 errors, while Pace earned 12 runs on 15 hits, with no errors.
• STAC pitchers struck out 2 Setters batters, while issuing 9 walks on the day.
• St. Thomas Aquinas stranded 8 runners on base. Pace left 11 in the contest.

UP NEXT

Due to forecasted rain for Saturday, St. Thomas Aquinas College has decided to move up their ECC doubleheader with Mercy College to Friday, March 31. The first pitch of game one (9-innings) at Clover Stadium is set for 11:00 a.m. with game two (7-innings) between the Spartans and Mavericks to begin around 2:00 p.m.