BOX SCORE

Staten Island, NY – Junior Kyle Morrison (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) struck out six over 7.0 innings of one-run ball while the offense erupted for 10 runs on 15 hits in a decisive 10-1 win over Central Connecticut State in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for both teams. The Seahawks improve to 10-8 and 1-0 in the NEC while the Blue Devils fall to 9-7 and 0-1 in the NEC.

Today's game was slated to start at 3:00 pm but was pushed back to a 6:07 pm start after heavy rainfall in the greater Staten Island area. Despite an hour rain delay after the top of the seventh, the game took just 2:03 to complete.

Morrison improved to a NEC-best 5-1 while facing just one batter over the minimum in his 7.0 innings of work. The hard-throwing righty struck out six and yielded just one run on three hits. He recorded four 1-2-3 frames and did not walk a batter.

After a quiet first inning, Wagner dented the scoreboard with three runs on five hits in the bottom of the second. Sophomore Jared Gruccio (Landisville, NJ / Buena Regional) laced a one-out double to left center getting things rolling. Freshman Tommy Higgins (Port Monmouth, NJ / Red Bank Catholic) drove in Gruccio with a line-drive single to right center. Sophomore Seth Boyd (Perth Amboy, NJ / Perth Amboy) followed with a rocket up the middle, placing runners at first-and-second. Classmate Brian Martutartus (Carlsbad, CA / La Costa Canyon) brought them both with a double to left field, extending the Seahawk lead out to 3-0.

In the top of the third, Richie Tri got one of those runs back with a solo home run to right field on the first pitch he saw from Morrison.

The Green & White put the game away with a five-spot in the bottom of the fourth inning. Boyd delivered his second hit of the game through the right side with one out, plating Gruccio, who singled to lead off the frame. Martutartus followed with a single before Csakai moved Boyd over to third with a fielder's choice. Sophomore Joe Conforti (Staten Island, NY / Farrell) added a RBI-single to center, extending the lead out to 5-1. Junior Vin Avella (Matawan, NJ / CBA) capped the inning with his team-leading seventh home run of the year, a monster three-run shot to deep left field, making it 8-1 Wagner.

Higgins pushed the lead out to 9-1 in the fifth inning with a RBI double through the left side, scoring Gruccio.

After the hour rain delay, senior Chris Drechsel (Cranford, NJ / Cranford) tripled on the first pitch he saw and was later brought around on a Higgins RBI groundout.

Sophomore RHP Brian Miller (Pittsburgh, PA / North Hills) struck out one over 2.0 innings of one-hit ball, closing out the game for the Green & White.

Gruccio went 3-4 with three runs and is now hitting .455 (15-33) on the year while Higgins was 2-4 with three RBI to lead the Seahawk-offense. Avella, Boyd, Csakai and Martutartus each added two hits for the Green & White, helping Wagner hit a robust .405 (15-37) for the day, including .438 (7-16) with runners in scoring position.

Todd Savatsky (0-1) was the pitcher of record for CCSU, yielding nine runs on 14 hits while striking out one over 4.1 innings.

The teams continue their four-game series with a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 12:00 pm.