March 24, 2007
Box Score
Richmond, VA - VCU (14-9) rallied from an early deficit to defeat Wagner (3-9) on a walk-off home run from Kwan Evans in the bottom of the 10th inning earlier today at The Diamond.
Despite the loss, junior lhp Joe Testa (Brick, NJ / Brick) turned in his second-straight superior start against top-level competition. He was outstanding for the Green & White, striking out eight while not walking a batter over seven innings and yielding just two earned runs on nine hits. With his eight strikeouts he now has 171 for his career and moves past former teammate Mike D'Angelis into sixth place on the Seahawks career-list.
Wagner got things rolling early on by scoring two first-inning runs. Freshman Damian Csakai (Freehold, NJ / Freehold) reached on an error and stole second before coming around on freshman Joe Conforti's (Staten Island, NY / Farrell) base hit through the right side. Conforti advanced to second on the throw home. After a groundout sophomore Peter Delleani (Manalapan, NJ / CBA) brought Conforti home on a groundout.
The Seahawks would then bat around in the second while scoring six runs. After a fly out to open the frame the Green & White loaded the bases as Brett Walker hit three-straight batters. Csakai and Conforti then drew four-pitch walks to force in two runs and make it 4-0. Senior Joseph DiGeronimo (Hawthorne, NJ / Hawthorne) followed up with a two-run single to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, including his season-opening spurt to 12. Delleani brought home Conforti for the second-straight stanza with a sacrifice fly to center field before senior Matt Mastrianni (Ringoes, NJ / Hunterdon Central) concluded the scoring with the second hit of the inning a triple to deep center to put Wagner up 8-0.
Despite the lead Wagner could not shake VCU. The Rams showed the Green & White why they were the preseason pick to win the prestigious Colonial Athletic Association as they got two of the runs back right away in the bottom part of the inning, using three singles and an error. VCU scored twice more in the fifth to cut it to 8-4.
Wagner would push the lead back out to 9-4 in the top of the seventh. DiGeronimo walked to lead off the inning before stealing second and advancing to third on the throw. After a groundout Mastrianni drove him in with an infield single. The Seahawks continued to threaten in the seventh and had a first and third one out situation before VCU relief-ace Mick Mattaliano induced an inning-ending double play.
VCU scored two more runs in the eighth to make it 9-6 Wagner. In the bottom of the ninth, the Rams scored three runs to tie the game before Justin Wright's line-drive with the bases loaded was snared on a spectacular leaping defensive-play by Delleani to send the game into extra innings.
After reliever Luke Pisker retired the Seahawks in order in the top of the 10th, Kwan Evans hit his second home run of the year off of freshman Kyle Morrison (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) to give the Rams the a 10-9 win. Pisker improved to 3-0 on the year after throwing one hitless inning of relief while Morrison fell to 0-4.
The Seahawks scored their nine runs on just six hits but were aided by VCU pitching, which hit three batters and walked six.
Conforti recorded a career-high three hits in four at bats with two runs and two RBI to lead the Wagner-offense. Mastrianni also had a solid-day going 2-5 with two RBI and a triple.
The Seahawks will look to salvage game three tomorrow starting at 1 pm. Live stats and game feed can be accessed through the VCU website at www.vcuathletics.com.
