LIVE STATS

Staten Island, NY – Wagner welcomes Central Connecticut State to Richmond County Bank Ballpark this weekend as both teams open Northeast Conference (NEC) play.

The Seahawks (9-8) and the Blue Devils (9-6) met five times with CCSU coming out victorious four times, as each game was decided by four runs or less, including two by just one run. The No. 2 seeded Blue Devils defeated the No. 3 seeded Seahawks 8-4 in the opening round of the NEC tournament, scoring five runs in the third inning off NEC Pitcher of the Year and current Minnesota Twins farmhand Joe Testa.

CCSU, like Wagner, returns the bulk of its offense from a year ago, led by junior Sean Allaire, who was the NEC Player of the Week, two weeks ago. Allaire is batting a team-best .371 (26-70) with 17 runs, seven doubles and seven RBI. Classmate Richie Tri is second on the squad with a .325 average (13-40) and a team-best two home runs. Senior Casey Walko is hitting .322 while junior Tommy Meade checks in at .321 with seven doubles.

Unlike the Seahawks, the Blue Devils tend to play station-to-station baseball, having recorded just seven stolen bases and on a balanced team effort and solid defense, having committed just 19 errors.

At the plate, Wagner is led by juniors Joe Conforti (Staten Island, NY / Farrell) (.381, 10 runs, .10 walks, 509 OBP, 4 stolen bases) and Damian Csakai (Freehold, NJ / Freehold) (.344, 22 hits, 13 runs, 11 RBI, 12 SB) at the top of the line-up. Senior Chris Drechsel (Cranford, NJ / Cranford) has also gotten off to a fast start in his final campaign and is hitting .327 with a team-best 14 runs while reaching base at a .446 clip. Sophomore Jon Lucas (Hackettstown, NJ / Hackettstown) (.324, 2 HR, .588 slugging percentage) and reigning NEC Player of the Week junior Brian Martutartus (Carlsbad, CA / La Costa Canyon) round out the regulars batting above .300, checking in at .309 with five doubles, 16 RBI and four stolen bases. Sophomore Jared Gruccio (Landisville, NJ / Buena Regional) (.414) and freshman Tommy Higgins (Port Monmouth, NJ / Red Bank Catholic) (.370) are also raking but just miss out on the required 2.0 at-bats per game, required to be including in the NEC rankings.

On the mound, CCSU has struggled while posting a 6.61 ERA but returns Senior LHP Ken Kerski (0-2; 5.79 ERA), who shut out Wagner a year ago while notching seven strikeouts in a complete game 9.0-inning shutout. Fellow senior RHP Taylor Kosakowski (1-1; 7.06 ERA) and senior LHP Derek Roberts (2-1; 8.27 ERA) also figure to receive starting assignments this weekend.

On the mound, Wagner junior RHP Kyle Morrison (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) and senior RHP Andy Wells (Staten Island, NY / St. Peter's) figure to start the first two games of this weekend's series. Morrison ranks among the league leaders in wins (4) (1st), strikeouts (30) (2nd NEC), ERA (3.58) (3rd NEC), and innings pitched (27.2 IP) (t-8th NEC). Last year, he pitched in game one against the Blue Devils but lasted just 2.2 innings after being struck with a batted ball. Wells, who didn't pitch last week, is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA with 11 strikeouts over 14.0 innings. Last year, he struck out five while allowing just one run on four hits over 7.0 innings while picking up a tough-luck no-decision in game three.

Junior RHP Matt Watson (Howell, NJ / Howell) (2-1; 3.31 ERA; 7K; 16.1 IP), who is expected to get a start against the Blue Devils this weekend, was solid last year against CCSU, striking out three while not walking a batter over 7.0 innings in game four a year ago. Sophomore LHP Jack Rice (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) (0-2; 3.65 ERA; 11K; 12.1 IP) struck out four while not walking a bater and yielding just one unearned run over 4.2 innings of relief of Morrison against the Blue Devils a year ago.

Friday's game will start at 4:00 pm with Saturday's doubleheader slated to begin at 12:00 pm and the series finale on tap for 1:00 pm on Sunday. Live Stats can be accessed for all games.

NOTES:
• Head coach Joe Litterio is 9-23 all-time against the Blue Devils as a coach, including 5-7 in Staten Island.
• Wagner and CCSU have met five times in the NEC Tournament with the Blue Devils holding a 4-1 edge.
• The Green & White are 4-2 in games decided by three runs or less and have collected saves in each victory.
• Andrew Huebner's (Sr., Hatfield, PA / North Penn) set the Wagner school-record with his 14th career save in Wagner's 5-4 win over Maine on Friday. For good measure he added number 15 in Monday's 9-6 victory.
• The Seahawks again ranks among the nation's best in ERA. After finishing 12th a year ago, the Green & White are 25th at 3.83 in the latest NCAA rankings. The offense is also getting it done at the plate, ranking 65th with a .304 average after finishing 280th out of 286 teams last year.
• Over the last three years, Wagner is 10-1 in the opening weekend of NEC play, posting sweeps in 2006 and 2008.
• Both teams have produced student-athletes that have achieved success at the professional ranks. Andrew Bailey is on the cusp of making the opening day roster with the Oakland A's while former CCSU hurler Evan Scribner is regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, recording 93 strikeouts over 77.1 innings a year ago.