Baseball Falls To St. Thomas Aquinas, 5-1, ECC Championship Tournament Opener

Uniondale, N.Y.-The University of Bridgeport baseball team absorbed a 5-1 loss in the opening game of the 2015 East Coast Conference Baseball Championship Tournament against St. Thomas Aquinas College on Thursday afternoon.  The 2015 ECC Baseball Championship is being hosted by Molloy College at Mitchell Field in Uniondale, N.Y.  With the loss, the second-seeded Purple Knights are now23-23 overall.  The three-seeded Spartans are now 25-17-1 on the year.

STAC jumped up to quick 4-0 lead over UB in the top of first inning and never looked back.

Bridgeport starter Rob Anderson (Stratford, Conn.) suffered his first loss of the season (6-1) on Thursday despite pitching well.  Anderson worked six innings in which he allowed only four hits with five strikeouts and only one walk.  Three of the five runs the Spartans scored were unearned on the afternoon.

Bridgeport freshman Andrew Oswald (St. James, N.Y.) did a nice job in relief firing three scoreless and hitless innings.

Freshman Jose Negron (New Haven, Conn.) has two hits on the afternoon for UB, and freshman Ben Torres (Hollywood, Fla.) drove in the Purple Knights' lone run of the day with a two-out triple in the bottom of the ninth.

Junior Matt Kostalos picked up the victory on the mound for the Spartans working a complete game in which he allowed one run on six hits with five strike outs and two walks.

The Purple Knights will return to action in the 2015 ECC Baseball Championship Tournament at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, when they will face an elimination game against the loser of Thursday's second game between top-seed Dowling College and number-four seed, LIU Post.  St. Thomas Aquinas advances into the Winners' Bracket game at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow.