MANCHESTER, N.H. – No. 4 seed St. Thomas Aquinas College capped a comeback from a 5-2 deficit with three eighth-inning runs to earn an 8-5 victory over No. 6 seed Felician College in an elimination game of the 2014 NCAA Division II East Regional Baseball Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Penmen Field on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University.

Felician finished fourth in its first NCAA regional appearance. The Golden Falcons established program records for wins and winning percentage by completing the season with a won-lost record of 30-20 (.600). St. Thomas Aquinas moves on to face fellow East Coast Conference squad Dowling College in Sunday's championship round.

Felician, the designated visiting team, led, 3-0, after two innings, and 4-2 after four. Senior third-baseman Jordan Tackett (Fredericksburg, Va.) restored the three-run edge with a two-out RBI single in the top of the fifth, but the Spartans (36-16) rallied for three runs in the bottom of the inning. Eventual winning pitcher C.J. Ferriggi (Bellmore, N.Y.), who started at third base, lofted a sacrifice fly and Nick D'Angelo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) had a game-tying two-run single.

Felician left 12 runners on base in the contest, including six without scoring in the final three innings. Golden Falcon starting pitcher Stephen Paladino (Staten Island, N.Y.) departed after five frames, having allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Graduate student Billy Rogers (Kendall Park, N.J.) relieved and tossed two scoreless innings, making the tagout in the seventh on a runner attempting to score on a potential wild pitch.

Golden Falcon closer Matthew Facendo (Hazlet, N.J.) (3-2) came on to begin the fateful bottom of the eighth. After a strikeout, STAC loaded the bases on a walk and two singles. Pinch-hitter Stephen Sunday (Scranton, Pa.) broke the tie with a bases-loaded walk, and Rich Baerga (Pomona, N.Y.) followed with a two-run single. Baerga was 3 for 5 with a triple in the game as the Spartans out-hit Felician, 12-9.

Ferriggi (2-1) struck out four batters in capturing the final six outs for STAC. Kenny Kirshner (Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y.) went 3 for 4 and scored twice and D'Angelo finished with three RBI for the Spartans. Felician's Scott De Jong (North Haledon, N.J.) was 3 for 4 with a double and Gabriel Fellin (Temple, Pa.) drove in a pair of runs with a squeeze bunt and a sacrifice fly.

Felician graduate student Joe Petosa (Spotswood, N.J.) leaves the program as its all-time hits leader with 225. Paladino's 246 career strikeouts are also the school standard.