Box score
STATEN ISLAND, NY—Wagner, the current co-leader in the Northeast Conference baseball standings, scored twice in the bottom of the third inning to go ahead of NJIT and the Seahawks went on to defeat the visiting Highlanders, 7-2, Wednesday afternoon at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.
Wagner, 24-17 overall and 12-7 in the NEC, is 13-4 since April 10, including an active winning streak that went to four in a row with the victory against NJIT.
Wagner had scored first, with a run in the bottom of the first inning against NJIT senior LHP PJ Saporito (3-7), but the Highlanders came back with single tallies of their own in the second and third innings for a 2-1 lead before Wagner went on top for good, scoring two in the bottom of the third inning. The Seahawks added three more runs in the fifth inning and one in the seventh for a 7-2 win in the nine-inning game that took just over two hours to complete.
Saporito was followed on the mound by classmate LHP Matt Melody, who pitched a scoreless inning and struck out two of the three batters he faced, and by freshman RHP Reid Okita, who allowed one run in two innings. Okita yielded two hits, while striking out one and walking three.
The winning pitcher for Wagner was junior RHP Brian Miller, who started and picked up his first college victory on the strength of five innings with five hits and two runs. A succession of four Seahawk relievers worked one inning apiece and kept NJIT off the scoreboard. Miller was making his first college start after relieving in his first 19 career games.
Wagner got nine hits, with the first two men in its batting order leading the way with two hits apiece. CF Damian Csakai was 2-for-5 in the leadoff spot and SS Brian Martutartus followed him with a 2-for-2 that included a pair of doubles and two runs batted in. The third batter for Wagner, 1B Vin Avella got one hit, but it was his 14th home run of the season.
NJIT, with seven hits total, got two each from three different men—LF Jeffrey Pizzi (2-for-4, including a triple; extending his hitting streak to 11 straight games, during which he is batting .444 on 16-for-36); SS Vincent Del Vecchio (2-for-3); and 1B #Kyle McCarthy (2-for-2).
The other hit for NJIT came from C Bryan Bleakley, who belted his second home run of the season, a one-out solo shot in the top of the second inning that drew the Highlanders even at 1-1.
A positive note for the rebuilding Highlanders is that Pizzi, Del Vecchio, and Bleakley are all freshmen who have gotten ample playing time and have shown marked improvement as they gain college experience. McCarthy is a junior who is seeing the most steady playing time of his college career over the last couple of weeks and has responded with excellent glove work and the best hitting of his career.
The Highlanders went down in order to open the game and Csakai doubled for Wagner leading off, but he was thrown out by Bleakley attempting to steal third. Martutartus then doubled and he succeeded stealing third, setting up Avella to drive him home with a sacrifice fly.
Bleakley's homer tied the score in the second inning and the Highlanders took their brief lead in the top of the third inning thanks to Pizzi's one-out triple and a subsequent ground-ball RBI by Saporito, who picked up his team-leading 14th run batted in of the season.
NJIT's 2-1 lead was short-lived, as LF Joe Conforti led off Wagner's half of the third inning and reached second base on a dropped fly ball in the outfield. After a pop out to the infield, Conforti stole third base and scored on a sacrifice fly by Martutartus. Avella, who wouldn't have batted if not for the error to open the inning, then came up and hit his home run, putting the Seahawks ahead to stay at 3-2.
The Highlanders, who made three errors in the game, made two in a wild fifth inning that saw Wagner tack on three more runs. All of the runs came after Saporito had recorded two outs and the action included a run-scoring double by Martutartus.
NJIT's season is down to four scheduled games remaining, all of which are set for this weekend against Saint Peter's. The teams are slated for a Senior Day doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon in Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. And then they'll meet again at Saint Peter's on Sunday with another noon doubleheader in nearby Jersey City.
