UNIONDALE, NY – The D'Youville University baseball team was defeated by St. Thomas Aquinas College 7-3 in the first game of the ECC Tournament on Thursday.
 
Chris Auclair (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) got the ball for the Saints and was able to work around two hits to throw a scoreless first inning.
 
In the bottom of the first, Alex Dzimian (Lakeview, N.Y.) drew a leadoff walk and Jake Hollins (Orchard Park, N.Y.) followed with a single to right. Dzimian came around to score after Billy Morris (Lancaster, N.Y.) reached on a fielder's choice and a throwing error by STAC's second baseman.
 
Auclair punched out two batters in the top of the second to keep the score at 1-0. The Spartans got to him in the top of the third, however, as six hits and two errors brought across six runs to make it 6-1 STAC.
 
Alec Boucher (Essex, Ontario) cut the deficit to 6-2 when he launched a home run to right field to lead off the bottom of the fourth.
 
Zach Penner (Leamington, Ontario) was masterful out of the bullpen for the Saints, allowing one run on three hits and striking out five in 3.2 innings. Connor Joedicke (Bloomville, N.Y.) and Harrison Lough (Auckland, New Zealand) each also threw a scoreless inning in relief for DYU.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, Hollins led off the inning with a walk and Jeremy Glinski (Sloan, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second with one out, but DYU was unable to score.
 
Base hits from Hunter Nowak (Hamburg, N.Y.) and Craig Oliver (Fredericton, New Brunswick) followed by a Dzimian hit by pitch loaded the bases for the Saints with two outs in the ninth. Hollins was then hit by a pitch to make it 7-3 and bring the tying run to the plate. However, the Saints last gasp rally fell short, and the Spartans clinched the victory.
 
D'Youville will face Queens College at 11:00 a.m. on Friday in a pivotal win-or-go-home game. DYU went 3-1 against Queens in the regular season.