LYNDHURST, N.J. – Felician University lost both ends of its non-conference baseball doubleheader to visiting St. Thomas Aquinas College, 12-6 and 9-2, on Saturday afternoon at the Lyndhurst Recreation Complex. Sophomore catcher/designated hitter Levis Aguila (Miramar, Fla./Hialeah Gardens) was 3 for 8 with a triple on the day for Felician (2-4).

The Golden Falcons are ranked No. 10 in the preseason NCAA Division II East Region writers' poll. St. Thomas Aquinas was playing for the first time in 2021, marking the third time this season Felician was facing a team during its season opener.

St. Thomas Aquinas graduate first baseman Brian Donnelly (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream South) was 6 for 10 during the twinbill. He had a double in each game.

STAC opened an 8-0 lead after 4 ½ innings of Game 1. Felician cut its deficit in half over the next two frames. In the bottom of the fifth, Aguila blasted a two-run triple and scored on a Shawn Vazquez (Millville, N.J./Vineland) groundout. Two more three-baggers produced another Golden Falcon run in the sixth.  Andrew Florides (Glen Cove, N.Y./Holy Cross HS) led off with a three-base hit and came home two outs later on another by Jake Stoller (Merion Station, Pa./Lower Merion).

The Spartans, however, needed only two hits to plate three runs in the seventh to regain control. STAC graduate right-hander Angelo Baez (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) allowed three earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts over seven innings, and James Reilly (Garnerville, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) finished up with two hitless stanzas.

Donnelly was 4 for 6 with three RBI and Spartan freshman catcher Sean Lynch (Highland Mills, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) went 3 for 4 with a triple and four RBI. Aguila was 2 for 5 and he and Vazquez drove in a pair each for Felician.

Game 2 was a scheduled seven-inning affair. STAC jumped on top immediately on a two-out, two-run first-inning single from James Versage (Cape May Court House, N.J./Middle Township). Starting pitchers Aaron Dona (Gloversville, N.Y./Gloversville) of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Golden Falcons' Michael Gutierrez (Garfield, N.J./Garfield) traded zeroes for a stretch thereafter, and the 2-0 score held through five.

STAC tacked on a run in the sixth on Danny DiMarzo's (Fishkill, N.Y./John Jay) single, but Vazquez put Felician on the board during the home half with a two-run home run. The Golden Falcon bullpen could not preserve the one-run deficit in the final frame, however. The Spartans put the game away with six runs in the seventh.

DiMarzo and Versage drove in three runs apiece for STAC, which picked up 10 hits and drew eight walks. Dona gave up three hits with seven strikeouts and one walk over six innings, while Gutierrez (1-1) dealt 5 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and five walks while striking out eight batters. Felician's Vazquez threw out two attempted base-stealears from his catching position.

The teams met again on Sunday for another non-league doubleheader in Lyndhurst.