UNIONDALE, N.Y. (May 11, 2017) – The fourth-seeded Molloy baseball team fell to the top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans, 6-1, during the first day of the East Coast Conference tournament. The Lions moved to 19-28 overall in the loss.

Junior Elijah Leerdam (Jamaica, N.Y.) led the maroon and white with two hits and an RBI. Seniors Brian Murphy (Elmont, N.Y.) and Michael Rahn (Sayville, N.Y.) also recorded a pair of hits.

St. Thomas Aquinas (38-13) opened the scoring in the second inning. Junior Giovanni Dingcong (Daly City, Calif.) hit a solo home run to make it 1-0.

The Spartans added to their lead in the fifth. Sophomore Cris Ruiz (Bridgeport, Conn) hit an RBI double to make it  2-0. Later in the frame, redshirt junior Bobby Morse (Commack, N.Y.) drove in another run to bring the score to 3-0. 

STAC scored two more runs in the sixth to take a 5-0 advantage.

In the top of the  eighth, Leerdam singled to right field to score Rahn and cut the lead to 5-1.

But the Spartans added another run in the top of the ninth.

Molloy loaded the bases in the ninth, but failed to score a run on its way to a 6-1 loss.

Senior Ronald Bauer (Hicksville, N.Y.) gave up five runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings of work in the losing effort. 

The Lions take on third-seeded Bridgeport tomorrow in the first elimination game. First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. If the Lions win, they will play in the second elimination game at 5:00 p.m. with a chance to earn a berth in the conference title game.