Pleasantville, N.Y. – Chris Cepeda tossed a two-hitter and left fielder Anthony Maisano registered four hits to lead second-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College to a 5-1 win over the Le Moyne College baseball team in an NCAA Championships East Regional winner's bracket game on Friday at Pace University's Finnerty Field.

With the loss, the Dolphins fall into the loser's bracket and will take on fifth-seeded Franklin Pierce University in an elimination game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

The Spartans scored all the runs they would need in the opening inning with three on four hits and a Le Moyne error. Shortstop Joseph Pena drew a walk with one out and right fielder Giovanni Dingcong followed with a single to left field. Pena then stole third and scored on an error by the catcher, which allowed Dingcong to move around to third. With two outs, first baseman Bobby Morse singled to left field to drive in Dingcong. After designated hitter Juan Adorno singled to right to move Morse to third, Maisano singled to first base to plate Morse.

St. Thomas Aquinas pushed its lead to 4-0 with a run on two hits in the fifth inning. Maisano singled to right center with two outs and then came around to score on a single to center by center fielder Michael Morgan.

The Dolphins broke through with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Freshman left fielder Nick Spinella (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) was hit by a pitch to start the inning and end Cepeda's perfect game. Redshirt freshman second baseman Brian O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) then hit the first pitch he saw over the fence in left field, but passed Spinella on the basepaths, which resulted in Spinella being allowed to score and O'Mara being called out at first base.

The Spartans finished the game's scoring with a run in the seventh on two hits. Morse hit a ground-rule double to left center with one out, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a double to left by Maisano.

Freshman righty Ryan Murphy (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) took the loss after allowing four runs (two earned) and 11 hits over five innings, while striking out six. Cepeda finished with eight strikeouts over nine innings to earn his eighth win of the season.