April 1, 2006
Box Score
TEANECK, NJ - Clutch hitting and dominating pitching. Those were the storylines in Wagner's 2-1 conference-opening victory at FDU in game one of today's doubleheader at FDU Field. Junior Joe DiGeronimo's (Hawthorne, NJ / Hawthorne) two-out single with scored tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh plated pinch-runner sophomore Chris Marino (Manalapan, NJ / Manalapan) and redshirt-junior rhp Andrew Bailey (Haddon Heights, NJ / Paul VI) struck out the side in the bottom half of the inning to give the Seahawks the 2-1 victory.
With the win the Seahawks improve to 2-17 and 1-0 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the Knights fall to 3-16 and 1-3 in the NEC.
Wagner starter senior rhp Mike D'Angelis (Paramus, NJ / St. Joseph Regional) and FDU starter lhp John O'Hara dominated the early part of the game as neither pitcher allowed a run over the first five innings.
The Green & White struck first in the top of the sixth as DiGeronimo singled up the middle for the Seahawks' first base-hit of the day. Senior Nick Papa (Freehold, NJ / Freehold) then grounded into what appeared to be a taylor-made double-play; however he hustled down the line beating out the throw. Papa then advanced to second on a balk and scored on junior Ed Sudol's (Wallington, NJ / Wallington) base hit to right center.
FDU answered in the bottom of the sixth as TJ Pilla walked and stole second to lead off the inning. Pilla then scored on a Chris Grabowski single to left field. Grabowksi advanced to second on an error by Papa and moved to third on a groundout. With the go-ahead run at third, the Seahawks brought in relief-ace junior Dan Lanzano (E. Brunswick, NJ / E. Brunswick) who induced Matt Cass into a groundball to Wagner third baseman Andrew Huebner (Hatfield, PA / North Penn), who went home with a perfect throw nailing Grabowski at the plate for the second out helping Lanzano get out of the jam.
Sophomore Dan Morvay (Jackson, NJ / Jackson Memorial) singled to right field to lead off the seventh inning. Morvay was then lifted for Marino and senior Michael Picarello (Clifton, NJ / Clifton) sacrificed Marino to second and reached on the play. O'Hara then got the next two Seahawks before uncorking a wild pitch that allowed the runners to move up setting the stage for DiGeronimo's game-winning hit.
The Seahawks scored their two runs on five hits while holding the Knights to one run on just four hits.
Lanzano picked up the win to improve to 2-2 on the season while O'Hara fell to 2-2. D'Angelis took a no-decision despite striking out seven and giving up just one run in 5.1 innings.
