The sun may not have been out for the Setters when they faced the Spartans, but the baseball team was more than willing to win in the shade.

Pace bested Saint Thomas Aquinas 4-2 earlier this week in West Harrison, New York. The win marks the first time the Setters have won at home this year, even though the game was not played at Finnerty Field.

Pace was able to strike first in the bottom of the first inning when a wild pitch from the Saint Thomas pitcher scored junior business major Chris Gili from third to give Pace its first lead of the day.

The Setters offense continued their campaign as senior criminal justice major Joe Solomeno lined a pitch right up the middle to score senior marketing major Charlie Glasso from third. Pace took an early 2-0 lead after the first inning.

Glasso had another impact for the Setters when he came to bat in the bottom of the second inning. The West Harrison native drove a single to right field that brought in two more runs to give Pace an early 4-0 lead.

While Pace got out to an early lead, the Spartans did achieve two moments of glory. The Spartans scored runs in the top of the sixth inning and in the top of the eighth to cut Pace’s lead in half. Yet Pace was able to hold off the Spartans to secure their second win of the year.

It was not just the offense that was on for the Setters. Pace’s pitching rained down fastballs and off-speed pitches like arrows from the sky.

Junior English major Robert Rizzitelli turned in a strong performance through six innings of work. The Monroe native relinquished only four hits and gave up just one run on the afternoon while striking out eight batters.

While Rizzitelli took care of the first 23 batters he faced, it was freshman criminal justice major Josh Garran who quelled the Spartans in the game’s late innings.

Garran picked up his first career save after an inning and two thirds of work.  The Old Tappan native struck out two batters and relinquished only one walk without giving up a hit to get the save.

The pitching numbers looked like something out of a coliseum fight. Both the Spartans and the Setters struck out at least ten batters on the day.

Although the Spartans and Setters took turns striking each other out, Saint Thomas Aquinas contended with runners on the base-paths far more than Pace did. Pace gave up just five walks between three different pitchers while the Spartans relinquished eight walks to Pace batters on the day.

While the Setter’s pitching held the opposing offense to two runs on six hits, Pace’s offense broke through the phalanx that was the Spartans pitching.

Pace tallied eight hits and also got two extra base hits from junior education major James Pjura and freshman nursing major Michael Viegas.

With the win the Setters improve to 2-3 overall and have yet to play a game against a conference opponent. The Setters will defend their home diamond again against Concordia on Mar. 12.