Trumbull, CT – With wins in six of their last seven Northeast Conference (NEC) games the Wagner Seahawks look to continue their winnings ways this weekend at Sacred Heart. Entering this weekend, both teams are tied with Central Connecticut State for first place in the league at 12-7.

One year after finishing at the bottom of the NEC standings, the Pioneers have ascended to the top of the standings thanks to a potent offense that is hitting .310, including a league-best .350 during NEC-play. Sacred Heart is led by graduate student Jeff Hanson, who is batting a league-best .417 with 14 doubles, nine home runs, 41 RBI and a .727 slugging percentage. Senior Tyler Santos is hitting .375 with 66 hits, 19 doubles, three home runs and 34 RBI. Classmate Jeff Heppner is not far behind at .372 with 61 hits, 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 52 RBI. Another senior Phil Tantillo checks in with a .368 average with seven doubles, two home runs and 30 RBI. Rounding out the top hitters for the Pioneers is junior Mike Drowne, who is hitting .350 with seven doubles and a team-best 15 stolen bases.

Junior LHP Jared Balbach leads the pitching staff and is among the NEC-best with a 7-2 record with a 4.65 ERA and 43 strikeouts over 60.0 innings. Senior RHP Chris Barthel is the squad's No. 2 starter and is 1-5 with 47 strikeouts over a team-high 67.2 innings of work. Sophomore LHP Matt Fitton owns a 5-3 record with a 20 strikeouts and a 6.16 ERA over 57.0 innings while junior LHP Corey Corcoran has emerged as the squad's No. 4 pitcher after collecting wins against Monmouth and Quinnipiac in each of his last two outings. He is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA with 12 strikeouts over 39.2 innings.

Wagner enters this weekend on a roll, having won of eight of its last 10 games. During that time, the Seahawks are hitting .309 with seven regulars batting above .300 while the pitching staff has held the opposition to a miniscule .251 average. Junior Vin Avella (Matawan, NJ / CBA) has been the power stick in the middle of the line-up during that time, clouting three doubles, four home runs and 13 RBI while turning in a .707 slugging percentage. Sophomore Brian Martutartus (Carlsbad, CA / La Costa Canyon) is hitting a team-best .417 during the 10-game sample.

For Martutartus his latest run has personified the Seahawks' offensive transformation from one of the worst in the NCAA a year ago to one of the best in the NEC. He is currently batting .338 after hitting just .239 as a freshman. He is among the league leaders and ranks eighth on the all-time single-season doubles list with 13 while also adding two triples, one home run and 13 stolen bases. Additionally, he has committed just eight errors in the field after making 23 miscues a year ago.

Sophomore Jared Gruccio (Landisville, NJ / Buena Regional) continues to rank among the NCAA's best in hitting at .414 (up from .158 in 2008) while reaching base at a NEC-best .496 clip. Junior Damian Csakai (Freehold Township, NJ / Freehold Township) is second at .344 (up from .292 in 2008) with 40 runs, 30 stolen bases, five doubles, three triples and two home runs. Marturatus is third at .338 with junior Joe Conforti (Staten Island, NY / Farrell) next at .333 (up from .231 in 2008). Sophomore Jon Lucas (Hackettstown, NJ / Hackettstown) is fifth on the team at .320 (up from .252 in 2008) with Seth Boyd (Perth Amboy, NJ / Perth Amboy) sixth at .313 (up from .230 in 2008). Avella is the seventh at .307 and is among the top power sources in the lead with a school-record 14 home runs with 12 doubles and 41 RBI. Senior Chris Drechsel (Cranford, NJ / Cranford) rounds out the .300-hitters and is batting .306 (up from .230 in 2008).

On the mound, the junior duo of Kyle Morrison (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) and Matt Watson (Howell, NJ / Howell) have combined to go 14-3 with one save, a 3.60 ERA and 67 strikeouts over 100.0 innings, spanning 19 appearances (18 starts). Freshman Mark Holmes (Manalapan, NJ / Manalapan) also returned to the rotation last weekend and posted 5.0 innings of two-hit ball in the Seahawks' 4-3 win over LIU in game three. Senior Andrew Huebner (Hatfield, PA / North Penn) collected two saves and is now a perfect 10-for-10 in save situations. He has 22 stops for his career and his next save will give him 11, tying his own single-season record set in 2008.

NOTES:
• Head coach Joe Litterio is 13-15 all-time against Sacred Heart and is 5-7 on the road.

• The teams met in the 2006 NEC Tournament with the Pioneers' Chris Aldrich handing current Major Leaguer Andrew Bailey a loss in his final collegiate game.

• Sacred Heart has not reached the NEC's biggest stage in baseball since winning the 2006 NEC title.

• Wagner's 24 wins tie the 2000 NEC Champions for the second-most victories by a Seahawk squad. Last year's edition of the Seahawks won a school-record 27 games.

• Sacred Heart head coach Nick Giaquinto played in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Redskins, winning a Super Bowl ring with the Redskins in 1982.

• Pioneer head basketball coach Dave Bike played minor league baseball, reaching Triple A with the Toledo Mud Hens.

• This year, the Green & White are 13-8 in games decided by three runs or less.

• With one more home run, Avella will tie former Seahawk great Chris Dick's school-record total of 32 home runs.

• Csakai is just six stolen bases off of former Atlanta Brave farmhand Joe Francisco's school-record total of 90 swipes. With three more stolen bases, he will tie the single-season school record of 33, which is held by Csakai and Francisco.

• Drechsel has maintained his dominance behind the plate, throwing out 36 percent (21-59) of runners trying to steal while picking off an additional five runners.

• Drechsel (.429), Csakai (.400) and Avella (.400) all had big weekends against Sacred Heart in 2008.

• From the Majors ... Bailey has pitched in 14 games for the Oakland A's, compiling a 3-0 record with 22 strikeouts, which leads all American League relievers, with a 1.40 ERA while limiting hitters to a .095 average.

• Another former Seahawk Joe Testa is off to a strong start with the Beloit Snappers of the Low A Midwest League. The hard-throwing lefty has struck out 24 with a 1.93 ERA over nine games.

• Wagner hosts Fairleigh Dickinson next weekend.