BOX SCORE

Staten Island, NY - Sacred Heart dealt Wagner a 13-5 setback on the strength of a 19-hit attack in first of four games at Richmond County Bank Ballpark. The Pioneers improve to 22-21 and 13-8 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the Seahawks fall to 18-24 and 11-10 in the NEC.

In defeat, senior Damian Csakai (Freehold Township, NJ / Freehold Township) had another outstanding game, going 3-for-4 with four stolen bases. His first hit tied Joey DiGeronimo's school-record for hits before passing the former Baltimore Oriole farmhand with his 220th career hit in the bottom of the second inning. For good measure, Csakai collected his third hit of the game and the 221st in his career in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Wagner took the early lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Csakai led off with a single through the left side for his school-record tying 219th hit in his school-record matching 707th at-bat. Following a stolen base and a ground out, junior Seth Boyd (Perth Amboy, NJ / Perth Amboy) drew a walk before senior Vin Avella (Matawan, NJ / CBA) loaded the bases with a single to right field. Junior Kevin McDonnell (Bristol, CT / Avon Old Farms) made it 1-0 with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Csakai.

Sacred Heart tied it up at 1-1 in the top of the second inning on Hunter Phillips' two-out triple to center field, scoring Dave Boisture, who had singled with one out before moving to second on a ground out.

The Seahawks reclaimed the lead in the bottom part of the frame. Freshman Gaby Ramirez (San Juan, Puerto Rico / Perkiomen (PA)) led off with a double to right field. After moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, Csakai singled through the right side plating Ramirez while notching his record-setting hit.

From that point on it was all Pioneers as the visitors outscored the Green & White 12-3 the rest of the way.

In the top of the third inning, Sacred Heart rallied to take its first lead of the game at 6-2 with five runs on five hits while batting around.

The Pioneers added to the lead in the top of the fourth inning on John Murphy's two-run homer to left center, making it 8-2.

Wagner got those runs back in the bottom of the fifth on Avella's NEC-leading 12th home run, a two-run missile to left field, scoring Boyd in the process while cutting the deficit to 10-4.

Sacred Heart plated two runs on a pair of RBI ground outs in the top of the seventh inning, pushing the lead out to 12-4.

Wagner got one of those runs back in the bottom of the seventh inning. Freshman Nick Alfano (Coral Springs, FL / North Broward Prep) led off with an infield single before advancing to second when Csakai was hit by a pitch for the 15th time this season, matching Jack Scholz's school-record total set in 1993. After Alfano moved to third on a fly out, he came around to score on a Boyd sacrifice fly.

The Pioneers concluded the scoring in the top of the ninth inning on a Steve Tedesco RBI double, providing the final 13-5 tally.

Joining Csakai in the multi-hit department was Avella, who was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.

Murphy went 3-for-6 with a home run, four RBI and two runs, pacing Sacred Heart.

Chris Zaccherio improved to 6-3 on the year with his fifth complete game, striking out six while yielding five runs on nine hits and a pair of walks over 9.0 innings. Senior RHP Andy Wells (Staten Island, NY / St. Peter's) fell to 1-2 with the loss, striking out two while surrendering eight runs on 11 hits in 4.0 innings of work.

The teams will resume their series tomorrow with a doubleheader slated for 3:00 pm.