Spartans Split Season Opener Against River Hawks
The St. Thomas Aquinas baseball team won their 2011 season opener, 2-1 over UMass Lowell at the Diamond Nation in Flemington, NJ. Starting pitcher Robert Frank picked up STAC's first win of the season going 5 1/3 innings. STAC dropped the second game, 3-2.
Frank along with reliever Joe Klemowitz kept the Lowell hitters in check the entire game, yielding only one hit and one unearned run. Klemowitz pitched 3 2/3 for the save. In the 2nd inning Spartan catcher George Wargo launched a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run double to the right field wall to give the Spartans the only runs they needed. Mike Walraven & Nick Barbalato each reached base three times. Vin Malzahn had a double and scored in the 2nd. Mike Apreda singled and scored.
In game two the Spartans jumped out to an early 1-run lead on a Mike Walraven RBI single. After breezing through the first nine batters, Spartan starting pitcher Kevin Ryan left the game in the 4th inning with an injury. Lowell then put together a couple hits sandwiched by a Spartan error on a routine double play resulting in a 3-run fourth inning. The Spartans rallied in the 6th getting two men on before Ryan Spicer launched a deep fly ball to left field only to fall short at the warning track. The Spartans mounted another rally in the 7th with back-to-back doubles by Fred Moore & Dan McDermott, but once again the rally fell short and the Spartans lost 3-2. McDermott and Moore collected two hits each and Andrew Ahn had a single and scored a run.
St. Thomas will return to action on Sunday vs UMass Lowell at Diamond Nation. Game time is 12:00 p.m.
