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West Long Branch, NJ – After splitting their first two Northeast Conference (NEC) weekends, the Wagner Seahawks will be looking for better results when the Green & White make the short trek to the Jersey Shore to take on the reigning NEC Regular Season Champion Monmouth Hawks for four games.

Monmouth and Wagner are eerily similar with both teams possessing good offense, strong pitching and solid defense as the teams rank among the top-three in each category in the NEC.

The Green & White (14-13; 4-4 NEC) are riding a three-game winning streak with two victories over Quinnipiac and a 15-4 thrashing of Big East member Seton Hall on Wednesday. The mantra “Everyone Hits” held true as all 14 Seahawk regulars that batted hit safely, including all nine starters by the end of the fourth inning. Sophomore AJ Pirozzi (Staten Island, NY / Farrell) collected his first win since April 29, 2007 against FDU after sitting out last season due to Tommy John surgery and yielded just two earned runs over 5.0 innings.

Last weekend against Quinnipiac, junior RHP Matt Watson (Howell, NJ / Howell) lowered his team-leading ERA to 2.63 with 6.0 innings of shutout ball against Quinnipiac in Wagner's 2-0 game-three win. The crafy right-hander scattered just three hits and three walks while retiring the leadoff batter in every inning. On the year, he is 4-1 with a save in 27.1 innings of work. Freshman RHP Mark Holmes (Manalapan, NJ / Manalapan) gave the Green & White a split of the series with Quinnipiac, spinning 7.0 solid innings while scattering five runs and not walking a batter in collecting his first collegiate win, a 7-6 Wagner game-four victory. On the year, he is 1-1 with six strikeouts and just one walk over 23.0 innings.

Sophomore Jared Gruccio (Landisville, NJ / Buena Regional) continues to lead Wagner in hitting at .438 (28-64) with five doubles and five stolen bases. The hottest player of late has been sophomore Seth Boyd (Perth Amboy, NJ / Perth Amboy). Over his last nine games, he is batting a team-best .469 (15-32) with two home runs, 10 RBI and five multi-hit performances.

Monmouth enters the series with a 17-14 mark, including a NEC-best 6-2. The Hawks are led by sophomore Nick Pulsonetti, who is batting a team-best .377 (40-106) with squad-highs in hits (40), runs (29), doubles (9), home runs (5), RBI (29) and slugging percentage (.623). Senior Rick Niederhaus checks in next with a .376 average (32-85) while reigning NEC Rookie of the Year sophomore Ryan Terry is hitting .337 (35-104) with five doubles, three home runs, nine stolen bases and 20 RBI. Rounding out the regulars batting above .300 are seniors Brett Holland (.324) and Chris Collazo (.306)

Monmouth also owns one of the finest pitching-units in the league, led by junior right-handers Brett Brach and Ryan Buch. Brach leads the NEC with a 1.42 ERA while posting a 4-0 record with 28 strikeouts, against just four walks, over 31.2 innings of work while limiting hitters to a miniscule .179 average. Last week at FDU, he fanned seven while allowing three hits and one walk on the way to earning Akadema NEC Pitcher of the Week honors. Buch is 4-2 with 48 strikeouts and a 4.34 ERA over 37.1 innings of work and is holding batters to a .245 average. Last year at Wagner, the pair went 2-0 with 13 strikeouts over 10.1 scoreless innings of work while scattering eight hits and three walks in two Monmouth wins.

Rounding out the rotation are junior left-handers Kyle Breese and Nick Vallillo. Breese, who will start game one, is 3-2 with 24 strikeouts and a 5.24 ERA over 34.1 innings. Last weekend, he closed out Monmouth's 8-0 game-four win over FDU with a scoreless ninth after spinning 5.1 innings while scattering three earned runs in Monmouth's 7-4 game-three win over LIU. Vallillo is 3-2 with a 26 strikeouts and a 4.23 ERA over 38.1 innings of work. However, the southpaw has been hit hard in each of his first two conference starts, yielding 11 earned runs on 15 hits and nine walks over just 7.1 innings of work.

The teams kick off the series on Friday, April 17 at 3:00 pm before playing a 12:00 pm doubleheader on Saturday, April 18 and end the four-game set with a single nine-inning game on Sunday, April 19 at 1:00 pm.

Probable Pitching Rotation
Game 1 – Jr. RHP Kyle Morrison (5-1; 3.32 ERA; 40.2 IP; 40 K; 13 BB ) vs. Jr. LHP Kyle Breese (3-2; 5.24 ERA; 34.1 IP; 24 K; 11 BB)

Game 2 – So. LHP Jack Rice (0-4; 7.85 ERA; 18.1 IP; 12 K; 7 BB) vs. Jr. RHP Ryan Buch (4-2; 4.34 ERA; 37.1 IP; 48 K; 14 BB)

Game 3 – Jr. RHP Matt Watson (4-1; 2.63 ERA; 27.1 IP; 10 K; 13 BB) vs. Jr. LHP Nick Vallillo (3-2; 4.23 ERA; 38.1 IP; 26 K; 14 BB)

Game 4 – Fr. RHP Mark Holmes (1-1; 3.91 ERA; 23.0 IP; 6 K; 1 BB) vs. Jr. RHP Brett Brach (4-0; 1.42 ERA; 31.2 IP; 28 K; 4 BB)


NOTES:
• Head coach Joe Litterio assisted Monmouth head coach Dean Ehehalt during the 1997 and 1998 seasons and is 13-21 all-time against the Hawks, including 3-11 in West Long Branch.
• The teams have met in the NEC playoffs five times with Wagner holding a 3-2 edge.
• Last year Monmouth won games one and two by scores of 6-0 and 1-0 before Wagner claimed game three by a 4-3 count. The Hawks then won the series with a 5-0 game-four victory.
• Morrison struck out six over 6.0 innings while yielding just three runs on six hits in picking up the game-two win.
• Senior Vin Avella (Matawan, NJ / CBA) hit a team-best .385 with a home run and two RBI over four games against the Hawks last year.
• Avella's team-leading ninth home run of the year against Seton Hall, a monster blast that hit the batter's eye in deep center, was the 26th of his career, tying the slugger with 2001 graduate and former Chicago Cubs' farmhand Mike Cerminaro for fifth in the all-time school annals.
• Pulsonetti hit .500 (7-14) with two home runs, two doubles, one triple and four RBI while posting a 1.214 slugging percentage over four games against the Green & White a year ago. Collazo (.385) and Holland (.364) also hit above .300.
• Junior Damian Csakai (Freehold, NJ / Freehold) and Brach were high school teammates. Sophomore Matt Logan (Wall, NJ / Wall) and Collazo also played on the same team at the prep level while Morrison and Rice were teammates with Monmouth freshman Tom Augustyniak at Immaculata High School.
• Wagner has not blown a save this year, going 6-6 in save situations with senior RHP Andrew Huebner (Hatfield, PA / North Penn) collecting five. After two stops against Quinnipiac, he has 17 for his career.
• The Seahawks rank third in the nation with 1.31 double plays per game.
• Two years ago, Watson spun his first collegiate complete game in a 4-1 game-four victory at Monmouth, striking out two over 7.0 innings.
• 2006 Wagner graduate Andrew Bailey has continued to impress at the Big League level, striking out seven over 6.1 scoreless innings – spanning five appearances. His Oakland A's travel to Toronto for three games before coming to New York City against the Yankees for three games, starting Monday at 7:05 pm.
• Elsewhere in the professional ranks, 2008 Wagner graduate Joe Testa and former Monmouth hurler Brad Brach are both pitching in the low A Midwest League. In two games for the Beloit Snappers (Minnesota Twins),Testa has struck out six while yielding just two hits and one walk over 4.2 innings. Brach, who is the closer for the Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres), has three saves while striking out seven over 4.0 innings of scoreless relief.
• Wagner hosts defending NEC Champion Mount St. Mary's next weekend (4/24-4/26).