COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bridgewater, NJ - No. 3 Wagner (25-29) will begin its pursuit of the program's second Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship on Thursday at TD Bank Ballpark against No. 2 Central Connecticut State (29-20) at 3:30 pm. A live webcast will be provided for the entire tournament via Northeast Conference TV while live stats will also be available this weekend.

The Seahawks will square off with either No. 1 Sacred Heart (29-25) or No. 4 Monmouth (22-25) tomorrow at either 12:00 pm or 3:30 pm.

ALL-TIME NEC TOURNEY RESULTS

2009 - 3rd
No. 4 Monmouth 14 def. No. 1 Wagner 8
No. 1 Wagner 6 def. No. 3 CCSU 5 (10 innings)
No. 2 Sacred Heart 5 def. No. 1 Wagner 4

2008 - 4th
No. 2 CCSU 8 def. No. 3 Wagner 4
No. 4 Mount St. Mary's 5 def. No. 3 Wagner 1

2006 - 3rd
No. 3 Wagner 3 def. No. 2 Quinnipiac 1
No. 4 Sacred Heart 4 def. No. 3 Wagner 0
No. 1 CCSU 25 def. No. 3 Wagner 8

2005 - 4th
No. 1 Quinnipiac 13 def. No. 4 Wagner 6
No. 3 Monmouth 8 def. No. 4 Wagner 4

2004 - 2nd
No. 4 Wagner 9 def. No. 1 CCSU 4
No. 4 Wagner 13 def. No. 3 Monmouth 4
No. 1 CCSU 5 def. No. 4 Wagner 4
No. 1 CCSU 10 def. No. 4 Wagner 3

2000 - 1st
No. 4 Wagner 16 def. No. 1 UMBC 1
No. 4 Wagner 5 def. No. 3 Monmouth 0
No. 3 Monmouth 14 def. No. 4 Wagner 3
No. 4 Wagner 7 def. No. 3 Monmouth 3

1997 - 4th
No. 1 FDU 7 def. No. 4 Wagner 4
No. 3 Rider 20 def. No. 2 Wagner 6

1994 - 4th
No. 1 Rider 9 def. No. 4 Wagner 7
No. 3 Long Island 2 def. No. 4 Wagner 1

Wagner NEC Tournament Notes
• 7-15 all-time in six appearances ('09, '08, '06, '05, '04, 00, '97, '94)
• Wagner is 2-4 vs. CCSU, 3-3 vs. Monmouth, and 0-2 vs. Sacred Heart in the NEC tournament.
• Back in 2000, the Seahawks won the school's first and only NEC Tournament title, taking the first two games against UMBC and Monmouth. Wagner then lost once to Monmouth before defeating the Hawks in the third and final meeting.
• Last year, the Seahawks fell victim to one of the more bizarre plays in recent tournament memory, a game-altering triple play in a 14-8 loss to Monmouth. After besting CCSU in an elimination game, Sacred Heart rallied to end Wagner's season with a 5-4 walk-off win.
• This marks the third-straight years, Wagner and CCSU will be squaring off in the tournament.
Head Coach Joe Litterio (Rutgers, 1993):
• Guided Wagner to a school-record 31 wins last year and has a school-record 221 wins.
• In 11 seasons, he has led the Green & White to seven NEC Tournaments, including the 2000 title.
• Litterio has been a part of six NCAA Regionals (three at Rutgers as a player, one as an assistant at Monmouth, one as an assistant at Winthrop and one at Wagner as a head coach).

LIT ALL-TIME VS.
No. 1 Sacred Heart - 15-21 (0-2 in tourney play)
No. 2 CCSU - 13-27 (2-4 in tourney play)
No. 4 Monmouth - 18-25 (3-3 in tourney play)

Three Seed - Wagner has been the three seed at the NEC Tournament on two previous occasions (2006, 2008), going 1-4 during that time. In 2006, the Seahawks defeated Quinnipiac 3-1 before being shut out by Sacred Heart 4-0. The Green & White were then wallopped 25-8 by CCSU in an elimination game.

In 2008, Wagner lost to CCSU 8-4 before dropping a 5-1 decision to eventual champion Mount St. Mary's.

Pariety A Plenty - In three of the last four years the No. 4 seed has won the conference tournament. Previously to that only the 2000 Wagner Seahawks had won the NEC Tourney when seeded fourth.

The Last Time ...
A No. 1 seed won was CCSU in 2005
A No. 2 seed won was Monmouth in 1998
A No. 3 seed won was Monmouth in 2007
A No. 4 seed won was Monmouth in 2009

Home Team Dominance - The fact that Wagner is the closest school to TD Bank Ballpark can only hope the Seahawks' chances of winning their second NEC title. Home teams have flexed their muscles this year, posting an 87-57 record (.604), including a 43-21 (.672) mark by the four tournament teams.

Game Of Streaks - They say baseball like most sports is a game of streaks and numbers. No one personifies that more then Brian Martutartus. The junior shortstop started the season in a miserable 2-for-28 (.071) slump. Since then he is 61-for-155 (.393), including 19-for-31 (.613) over the last eight games.

The current Akadema NEC Player of the Week, he led the Seahawks' offense in four consecutive victories over the Bobcats, batting .688 (11-for-16) while reaching base at a .706 clip.
On the year, Martutartus paces the squad with a .344 average, including .413 during NEC-play, and 18 doubles while starting 53 games at shortstop. He also notched a team-best 17 multi-hit games, including eight games of three hits.

In five career NEC Tournament games, he is also batting a blistering .556 (10-18).

Back-To-Back - Wagner has claimed each of the last two NEC Pitcher of the Year awards. Fifth-year senior Matt Watson claimed the league's top pitching honor a year ago after winning nine games. This season, the right-handed pitcher has four wins and recently matched the Wagner school-record of 19 wins. With one more win he will break a four-way tie that currently exists between Joe Testa, Bill Willetts and Don Finley.

Home Sweet Home - Over the last three years, Wagner is 49-17 at home, including 33-11 during NEC-games.

Senior Class Stands Out - The Wagner seniors have posted 99 wins, which is the most-ever by a four-year class. Included in that run are the top-three seasons in terms of wins in school-history.
Avella, Csakai Rewrite Record Books - Four years ago Vin Avella and Damian Csakai entered Wagner as lightly-recruited student-athletes. Today they are some of the highest profile baseball players in the league while holding a combined 18 single-season and career records.

The Garden State natives have also combined for three All-Conference awards and seven weekly NEC citations.

Csaking In - This season, Csakai (pronounced CHECK-Eye) has set Wagner career-records for hits (229), runs (162), stolen bases (131), hit-by-pitches (42), games played (209), games started (204) and at-bats (749).

He also shattered his single-season stolen base record set a year ago and currently has 40, just two off of Kyle Messineo's NEC-record of 42 set in 2007. Having started all 54 games in center field, he is batting .301 with 38 runs, 31 walks and has been hit a school-record 16 times while reaching base at a .440 clip.

A standout in the classroom as well, Csakai was also named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSida All-District First Team and is now eligible for the National Team.

Power Source - A staple of Wagner home games at Richmond County Bank Ballpark is the home run siren, which has been triggered by Avella more then any other player over the last three years (10 times). The power-hitting first baseman holds the Seahawks career records of 48 home runs and 161 RBI. He is also one home run off his own single-season record of 16 set a year ago and with one more RBI will break the single-season mark. He is batting .316 with 14 doubles, 15 home runs, 56 RBI and 18 walks.

MAC Leads The Nation - Junior rightfielder Kevin McDonnell has returned from injury to lead the nation with his 13 outfield assists. The Nutmeg State native picked up lucky 13 vs. Quinnipiac, nabbing Mike Bartlett at first base after the Bobcat DH took a wide turn following a fifth-inning hit.

McDonnell is also having a solid year at the plate, batting .309 with 12 doubles, one triple and three home runs while driving in 28.

Double-Duty - Following the loss of Kyle Morrison and Andrew Huebner to the professional ranks, the Seahawk pitching staff needed to add a power arm. The solution was on the other side of the diamond. Junior Jon Lucas, who also serves as the team's DH, struck out a team-best 42 over 49.1 innings while winning three games. During NEC-play, he recorded all he posted all three wins along with a team-best 4.43 ERA and 32 strikeous over 40.2 innings.

Lucas also serves as the team's primary designated hitter and is batting .320 with eight doubles, three home runs and 31 RBI

Road Woes - Wagner went a disappointing 9-25 on the road this year and was just 5-7 against the other NEC Tournament teams.

Closing It Out In Style - In head coach Joe Litterio's seven trips to the NEC Tournament, his teams have gone a ridiculous 20-1 in the final regular season series of the year. Wagner swept four games from Quinnipiac last weekend after taking all four against FDU a year ago and three of four from Sacred Heart in 2008. In 2006 and 2005, the Seahawks swept Monmouth and St. Francis (NY), respectively. Before that, the Green & White bested Mount St. Mary's in a one-game make-up in 2004 and swept a doubleheader from the Mount in 2000.

Sandstorm - Junior LHP David Rees has had an outstanding year in replacing Huebner, currently pitching in the Baltimore Orioles organization, as the team's closer. The Staten Island native appeared in a school-record 29 games while notching a 2.38 ERA, including 1.10 during NEC-play, with a team-best six saves and 33 strikeouts over 34.0 innings of work.

Deja Vu! - If NEC coaches cringe when they hear junior Seth Boyd's name it is because the last name sends chills up their backs. Boyd's brother Jared was the 2002 NEC MVP at UMBC, then a NEC-school. Last year's All-NEC Second Team selection, he is batting .312 with nine doubles, two triples, four home runs, 28 RBI and 13 stolen bases. A one-time NEC Player of the Week, he was the Wagner Athlete of the Month for April after batting .400 with team-highs in runs (20), hits (30) and home runs (4) while batting safely in 18-of-21 games, including 14-straight at one point.

Giant Killer - Freshman RHP Christian Rautenstrauch has developed a reputation for standing out against the bigger name schools. The freshman right-handed pitcher owns wins against BIG EAST members Seton Hall and St. John's while also defeating Sacred Heart and Monmouth.

Wagner Stands Out In The League - The Seahawks won nine weekly NEC awards, matching Sacred Heart for the most by a conference school this season.
Wagner's Akadema NEC Performers of the Week:
Players of the Week
Vin Avella (3/1); (3/22)
Damian Csakai (3/15)
Seth Boyd (4/12)
Brian Martutartus (5/24)
Pitcher of the Week
Matt Watson (3/1)
Rookies of the Week
Gaby Ramirez (3/22); (4/12)
Christian Rautenstrauch (4/19)

Wagner In The Pros - Oakland A's All-Star closer Andrew Bailey, highlights a group of four Seahawks that are currently in the professional ranks. Joe Testa (Twins) is pitching for the Double A New Britain RockCats in the Eastern League while Kyle Morrison (Nationals) is also a reliever for the Hagerstown Suns in the Low A South Atlantic League. Andrew Huebner (Orioles) is currently at extended spring training.