COMPLETE NEC RELEASE

Somerset, NJ –The Wagner baseball team was slated to finish third in the Northeast Conference (NEC), according to the annual preseason poll conducted by the league's eight coaches. The Green & White will be gunning for its fifth NEC Tournament berth in the last six years after finishing third a year ago and advancing to the conference tourney.

Expectations are high for the Seahawks, who return 23 letter-winners from a team that won a school-record 27 games. On offensive, eight starters come back while the pitching staff boasts four returning starters as well as the bulk of the bullpen that helped the Green & White to the 12th-best ERA in the nation at 3.85.

Defending NEC Regular Season Champion Monmouth received five first place votes and was picked to win its fifth conference crown. Central Connecticut State, which finished second in 2008, was again slated to finish as the runner-ups and earned two first place votes. The Seahawks were tabbed third while garnering the last remaining first place vote. 2008 NEC Champion Mount St. Mary's, which won four-straight elimination games to take last year's title, was picked to complete the NEC Tournament field at fourth. Quinnipiac was picked fifth with Long Island coming in sixth. 2006 NEC Champ Sacred Heart was slated seventh with Fairleigh Dickinson rounding out the poll at eighth.

The top four teams qualify for the NEC Tournament, which will be held in New Britain, CT.

10th-year mentor Joe Litterio returns arguably his most talented squad since his inaugural team in 2000, which won the school's lone NEC Baseball Championship.

Senior catcher Chris Drechsel (Cranford, NJ / Cranford), a three-time Second Team All-NEC pick, returns to lead the squad. Also returning is 2008 NEC Second Team selection junior Vin Avella (Matawan, NJ / CBA), who was recently one of two NEC student-athletes named to the prestigious Wallace Watch List. The power-hitting first baseman paced the squad in nearly every major offensive category and has been a menace to opposing pitchers over his first two years. Rounding out the All-NEC returners is speedy centerfielder junior Damian Csakai (Freehold, NJ / Freehold), who also garnered a Second-Team honor.

Despite graduating last year's NEC Pitcher of the Year Joe Testa to Minnesota Twins organization, the Seahawks return one of the deepest staffs in the league. Junior RHP Kyle Morrison (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) is penciled in as the squad's No. 1 pitcher after a successful summer in which he was ranked as the No. 3 Pro Prospect in the ACBL. Senior RHP Andy Wells (Staten Island, NY / Siena) is slated as the No. 2 starter after being named the No. 22 Pro Prospect in the Great Lakes Summer League. Redshirt-junior Matt Watson (Howell, NJ / Howell) will again be the No. 3 starter while sophomore Jack Rice (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) and redshirt-sophomore AJ Pirozzi (Staten Island, NY / St. Peter's) will be vying for the last weekend slot. Rounding out the top-returners on the pitching staff is senior closer Andrew Huebner (Hatfield, PA / North Penn), who set a school-record with 11 saves in 2008.

Wagner will again call Richmond County Bank Ballpark home, playing all 21 of its home games in 2009 there. Additionally live stats for all 21 games and select road contests will be available through the Wagner Athletics website.

The Seahawks kick off their 2009 season with a four-game series against No. 18 Kent State on Friday, February 27 at 12:30 pm in the first game of the Coca Cola Classic hosted by Winthrop University.