Stroudsburg, Pa. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Baseball team allowed a five-run second inning to the No. 17 ranked East Stroudsburg University and then saw their late rally fall short in a 5-3 defeat on Tuesday afternoon at Creekview Park in the Keystone State.

STAC slips to 10-27 on the season, while ESU improves to 31-9.

East Stoudsburg put up their crooked number in the bottom of the second on the strength of two bases-loaded walks, a hit by pitch with the bases full of Warriors and a 2 RBI double to make it 5-0.

STAC answered with a pair of runs in the sixth inning via RBI singles by Kyle DeCresce and Tyler Haydt, which scored both Ryan Hillery and Anthony Dimarco, to cut the deficit to 5-2. A Ryan Appell bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning, allowed teammate Charlie Cordisco to trot home to narrow the score to just 5-3, but that would be all of the offense the Spartans could muster and ESU would close things out with an uneventful final two frames.

Trey Eckman (L, 0-1) took the ball in the non-conference matchup and surrendered five runs on a hit and four walks with two Ks over an inning and two-thirds of work. Eckman was charged with the loss. 

Relievers Jeremiah Vega, Anthony Holtje, Ricardo Gonzalez and Eliahs Delgado held down the fort for the Spartans in the final six and a third innings to aid in the potential comeback. The quartet allowed three hits and seven walks, while fanning three Warriors.

The Spartans open a four-game, weekend set with Georgian Court University on Saturday, April 26. The teams will play a doubleheader at Clover Stadium, with the first pitch of game one scheduled for noon, before shifting south to Jackson, New Jersey for another twin bill on Sunday, April 27.