LYNDHURST, N.J. – With just one starter remaining in the lineup, the Felician University baseball team nearly erased an 11-1 sixth-inning deficit in Game 2 of a non-conference doubleheader to visiting St. Thomas Aquinas College on Sunday afternoon at the Lyndhurst Recreation Complex. St. Thomas Aquinas held on for an 11-9 victory, wrapping up a sweep of the day's games and of the teams' weekend four-game series. The Spartans claimed Game 1, 8-3.

The Golden Falcons (2-6) are ranked No. 10 in the preseason NCAA Division II East Region writers' poll.

STAC senior right fielder James Versage (Cape May Court House, N.J./Middle Township) was 6 for 8 with four runs batted in for the day. The Spartans had 27 hits during the twinbill, with 13 going for extra bases.

The day's second game was scheduled for seven innings. STAC went in front with three runs in the top of the first. After the visitors put their first two runners on base, graduate student Brian Donnelly (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream South) blasted a two-run triple and scored on Versage's single. The Spartans broke the game open with five more runs on five hits in the second.

Felician dented the scoreboard in the bottom of the second on doubles by Jaden Rivera (Queens Village, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) and Mike Martinez (Union City, N.Y./Bergen Catholic). But when STAC moved ahead, 10-1, after three innings, the Golden Falcons replaced every starter except for shortstop Rivera.

Donnelly's RBI single in the fifth extended the Spartan lead to 10. But Felician put up a five-spot in the sixth, capped by a three-run triple from senior Jasson Corniel (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/CENAPEC). The Golden Falcons rallied for three more runs on three hits and a Nick Vincelli (Waretown, N.J./Spotswood) sacrifice fly in the seventh, but could not bring the tying run to the plate.

Rivera was 2 for 4 and freshmen Elbi Nunez (Perth Amboy, N.J./Perth Amboy) and Garrett Allo (Monroe Township, N.J./East Brunswick Tech) scored twice each off the bench for Felician. STAC starting pitcher Reyan Mustafoski (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts over four innings to earn the victory. Anthony Maisano (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) had a double and a triple among three hits.

Jake Stoller's (Merion Station, Pa./Lower Merion) two-out RBI triple in the bottom of the seventh inning pulled Felician even in Game 1, 2-2. But STAC took control with four runs in the top of the eighth inning. Versage hit a two-run home run in the ninth to complete the Spartan scoring.

Andrew Florides (Glen Cove, N.Y./Holy Cross HS) had two doubles and Edwin Tavarez (Garfield, N.J./Garfield) was 2 for 4 with a triple for Felican. STAC (4-0) received a strong starting pitching effort from graduate righty Alex Mack (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall Central), who yielded two runs on seven hits, struck out nine batters and walked none in 6 2/3 innings in a no-decision.

Felician hosts East Stroudsburg University on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Lyndhurst. Per Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference policy, no spectators are allowed at events hosted by conference members until further notice; check www.caccnetwork.com for webstream details.