Box Score

NEWARK, NJ—Trailing 8-1 in the fifth inning, NJIT rallied to close the gap against visiting Wagner to 9-7 through seven frames, but that's where the score ended, as the Seahawks took the rubber game of the three-game Easter weekend set between the teams Saturday afternoon at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
 
The teams split a doubleheader Friday afternoon on Staten Island, with NJIT taking the opener 5-0 before the Seahawks scored a walk-off 3-2 win with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning in the second game.
 
The series moved to Newark for a single game on Saturday and the Highlanders put themselves in a deep hole early, committing two errors each in both the third and fourth inning, which opened the door to four unearned runs by the visitors, who scored once in the fourth inning and five times in the fourth.
 
The Seahawks added two more runs, both earned, in the fifth inning for an 8-1 lead. NJIT, which was no-hit by Wagner freshman RHP Nolan Long through the first three innings, got its first run in the fourth inning, but then scored twice in each of the next three innings. Wagner, which had added a run in the top of the seventh inning, the only one charged to any of the three Highlanders relievers, held a 9-7 edge after seven and then made it hold up with two scoreless frames the rest of the way.
 
Wagner is 11-23, while NJIT drops to 11-17.
 
Long, a 6-foot-10 freshman who was selected by the San Francisco Giants organization in the 38th round of baseball's annual first-year player draft in 2012, is now 1-1 for Wagner after pitching the first five innings Saturday and allowing two hits and three runs, with four walks and one strikeout. Long, who also plays on Wagner's men's basketball team, graduated from high school in 2012, but spent 2012-13 as a prep school postgraduate student.
 
The next two Wagner relievers—Steven Bloodworth and Anthony Battaglia—each allowed two runs on three hits, but the last two out of the bullpen—Max Schmardel and Mike Adams—each pitched scoreless, hitless relief, keeping NJIT from getting closer than two runs. Adams, a sophomore right-hander, picked up his third save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He needed just three pitches to retire the first two Highlanders he faced, as both popped out.
 
The loss went to the NJIT starter, senior RHP Matt Coughlin (1-2), who was undermined by the four fielding errors in the space of two innings. He lasted 4.1 innings and was charged with nine hits and eight runs (four earned), while striking out four, walking one, hitting a batter and uncorking two wild pitches.
 
The Highlander bullpen gave NJIT a chance to get back into the game, as three relievers combined for 4.2 innings, with one run on six hits, with no strikeouts or walks. The run was charged to senior RHP Frank Shivers, the first reliever, who pitched two innings. Freshman Brian Sondergard and senior Austin McAuliffe each worked 1.1 scoreless innings.
 
With 15 hits in the game—14 singles and a double—Wagner had three different men with three hits apiece, plus two more with two hits each. The leadoff batter, SS Nick Mascelli, was 3-for-6 and drove in a team-best two runs. RF Zach Yesko was 3-for-4 and CF Trey Nicosia, one of the heroes in Wagner's 3-2 walk-off win on Friday, was 3-for-5 on Saturday and scored three runs. 1B Tommy Mazurkiewicz was 2-for-5, including his team's double.
 
NJIT had hits from seven different players, but only designated hitter Stephan Halibej (2-for-5) had more than one hit. Senior C Scott Brosman (1-for-3) led NJIT with two runs batted in. Brosman, 3B Mike Rampone, and 1B Tom Bouck each doubled for the Highlanders, who got 8 hits and added 5 walks and two hit-by-pitch.
 
Wagner's first run, in the third inning, was helped by two NJIT errors. DH Jason Gordon (2-for-6) reached base on an error with one out. After a second out, LF Shaun Flynn walked and the run scored a batter later when 3B John Lynn's batted ball was played into the second error of the frame.
 
The five-run fourth inning by the Seahawks included two more errors, four hits and a run-scoring wild pitch. Yesko led off with an infield single. Nicosia, bunting for a hit, reached on an error when the ball, thrown from third, sailed over the first baseman's head and down the line, with Yesko going to third base and Nicosia to second on the error. 2B Vaughn Champion then singled to drive in a run and push Nicosia to third base. After a fly out, Gordon stroked an RBI single and C Nick Dini singled for another run before the second NJIT error of the inning loaded the bases. Lynn then hit a sacrifice fly and the fifth run of the inning scored on a wild pitch.  
 
Without a hit in the first three innings, NJIT mounted a two-out rally for its first run of the day in the fourth. Halibej singled and Bouck was hit by a pitch, with the pair later moving up a base on one of Long's two wild pitches in the inning. The second wild pitch allowed Halibej to score.
 
Leading 6-1 through four innings, Wagner tacked on a pair of scores in the fifth, with the first run scoring on a wild pitch and the second coming in on Mascelli's RBI single.
 
Now trailing by seven, NJIT got to work in the bottom of the fifth, scoring twice. One run came in one a double for Rampone, his team-leading 10th of 2014, and the second run came home on a single a sacrifice fly for CF Ed Charlton, who drove in four runs in the three-game series.
 
The Highlanders trimmed two more runs off their deficit in the sixth inning, with LF Teddy Bickert (1-for-5) getting an RBI single RF Matt Weckerle (0-for-4) driving in a run on fielder's choice.
 
Leading 8-5 after six innings, Wagner scored its last run in the seventh on a single by Mascelli that scored the speedy Nicosia, who led off with a bunt single and then stole second base.
 
NJIT scored its last two runs in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Halibej singled and after another out SS Bryan Haberstroh (1-for-4) singled. Brosman then doubled deep into the left center field gap scoring both runners and bringing Schmardel in from the Seahawk pen to halt the rally with a two-out strikeout.
 
Wagner got two hits with two outs in the top of the eighth inning, but McAuliffe entered to bail out Sondergard and keep the score at 9-7, which is where it ended, as the teams managed one base runner each the rest of the way.
 
NJIT is scheduled to make the short trip to Jersey City, NJ, for a single game Tuesday at 3:30 pm vs. Saint Peter's. When the teams met in Newark on March 25, Saint Peter's was a 6-3 winner.