March 13, 2006

Box Score

ORLANDO, FL - The Wagner Seahawks were swept for the second-straight series to open the year at UCF 11-0 earlier tonight at Jay Bergman Field. With the loss Wagner remains winless at 0-6 while the Golden Knights improve to 10-9.

UCF jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second half and looked poised to break the game open, however freshman rhp Andrew Huebner (Hatfield, PA / North Penn) pitched the Seahawks out of some big jams to give Wagner a fighting chance. Facing a tough southern program in only his second collegiate start, Huebner yielded two runs and struck out three in 4.2 solid innings while falling to 0-2 on the season.

As has been the case for most of the series, the Green & White ran into some good pitching. UCF's freshman rhp Kyle Sweat, a 42nd round pick in the 2005 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, gave the Golden Knights 6.0 scoreless innings scattering just six hits. In the Golden Knight three-game sweep the Seahawks were limited to no extra-base hits. Wagner had some threats in the early going but were done in two rally-killing double plays in the third and fourth innings.

UCF would pad their lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, one in the bottom of the seventh and five in the bottom of the eighth.

Leading the Seahawks at the plate was senior second baseman Joseph Malfettano (Toms River, NJ / Toms River North) and junior shortstop Joseph DiGeronimo (Hawthorne, NJ / Hawthorne), who each went 2-4. Also singling for the Seahawks was senior center fielder Nick Papa (Freehold, NJ / Freehold), senior first baseman Brian Scrocca (Somerville, NJ / Somerville) and junior right fielder Ed Sudol (Wallington, NJ / Wallington).

The Seahawks continue their southern swing when they travel to Jacksonville for a pair of games. Tomorrow's first pitch is slated for 6:00 pm.