LIVE STATS

Staten Island, NY - Following a tough loss at St. John's the Wagner Seahawks (8-17; 6-6 NEC) return to action this weekend with an important four-game set with defending Northeast Conference (NEC) Regular Season Champion Bryant (11-13; 3-5 NEC).

LEADING THE WAY OF LATE …
Has been right fielder Kevin McDonnell (Bristol, CT / Bristol) … The fifth-year senior has been on an absolute tear of late, batting a team-best .478 (11-23) with eight runs, three doubles, one home run, seven RBI and four stolen bases while posting a .739 slugging percentage and a .571 OBP. Additionally, McDonnell is riding a career-best 11-game hitting streak while batting safely in 14 of his last 15 games. On the year, he leads the team in batting (.356), doubles (7), home runs (2), RBI (18), slugging (.539) and OBP (.437) while ranking second in runs (16), walks (11) and stolen bases (9).

ALSO ON AN 11-GAME HITTING STREAK IS  …
Classmate Seth Boyd (Perth Amboy, NJ / Perth Amboy) … Boyd , like McDonnell, is having a very nice final year at Wagner, hitting .319 with 11 runs, six doubles, 11 RBI, 11 walks and four stolen bases. More important than his outstanding offensive game has been his play in the field as the two-time All-NEC second baseman has shifted to shortstop over the last six games and not missed a beat while providing reliable defense.

IN THE NEWS
Head coach Joe Litterio and McDonnell were recently interviewed by Priya Desai of NY1. The piece will air on NY1 tonight at 6:30 pm.

BACK-TO-BACK
Junior Eddie Brown (Edison, NJ / St. Joseph's (Metuchen)) has given the Green & White a lift since being inserted into the leadoff spot in the line-up six games ago … During that time Wagner is batting .320 as a team and has scored in the first inning in each game, mainly due to Brown. in the last two games, Brown has began the game like Rickey Henderson so often did during his Hall of Fame career, with a leadoff home run. Those two long balls has contributed to a .304 average (7-23) with seven runs, six RBI and an outstanding .429 OBP during the aforementioned six-game sample.

ON THE MOUND …
Senior RHP Dale Hering (Belle Mead, NJ / Montgomery) has been outstanding of late, winning his last three starts – all during NEC play and turned in his most dominating performance last week in an 11-0 win over Long Island, striking out eight over 7.0 shutout innings. On the year, he is 3-2 while ranking second in the NEC with 27 strikeouts over 30.1 innings of work.

SCOUTING BRYANT
Bryant has been led in the early going by junior Dave Soltis, who is batting a team-best .338 with 16 runs, seven doubles, one home run and 10 RBI. A year ago, Soltis was blocked at shortstop by Second Team All-NEC selection Zak Cianciolo and wound up earning just 75 bats en route to hitting .200. The Bulldogs are batting a league-low .244 after scorching the NEC to the tune of a .319 clip a year ago.

DON'T LET THE NUMBERS FOOL YOU
Sophomore Kevin Brown has struggled to a .242 average with five doubles, two triples and two home runs but is capable of going on a tear at any time as is evident by his stellar freshman campaign. As a rookie, he hit .355 with 23 doubles, seven triples, six home runs and 40 RBI en route to earning the 2010 NEC Rookie of the Year citation.

HEART OF THE ATTACK
Despite losing its No. 3-No. 6 hitters from last year's NEC Championship squad, Bryant returns the aforementioned Brown, junior Jamie Skagerlind and senior Jordan English and Tim Norton from a Bulldog team that went 25-7 during league play. Each member of the quartet also hit at least .438 against Wagner pitching, highlighted by Brown's team-best .588 average (10-17) a year ago as the leadoff hitter scored eight runs with four extra-base hits and five RBI while posting a 1.059 slugging percentage and a .632 OBP en route to NEC Rookie of the Week accolades. All told the foursome hit a combined .483 (29-60) with 17 runs, five doubles, three triples, two home runs and 13 RBI while helping the Bulldogs garner a weekend sweep.

NO SLOUCH
While Bryant's offense stood out a year ago, the Wagner hitters also showcased a solid effort. The Seahawks got to eventual NEC Pitcher of the Year Brent Almeida for four runs over 6.0 innings and projected Game One starter and Second Team All-NEC pick Peter Kelich for four runs over 5.1 innings. All told the Green & White hit .273 on the weekend and were led by McDonnell, who batted a team-best .385 (5-13) with four runs two home runs, one double and three RBI while posting a .923 slugging percentage. Boyd had a solid weekend, batting .333 (5-15) with three runs, two RBI and two stolen bases.

UNSUNG HERO
Sophomore Nick Alfano (Coral Springs, FL / North Broward Prep) turned in his finest performance to date as a member of the Wagner baseball team, going 4-for-5 with three runs, two RBI, his first career home run and his first career double in Bryant's 11-10 game-four win.

CLOSER U
Kyle Morrison, a 2009 Draft Choice of the Washington Nationals, is slated to be the closer for the club's High-A team in Potomac and hopes to follow the success dictated by two-time American League All Star closer Andrew Bailey of the Oakland A's.

FINALLY
All four games are expected to played under ideal conditions as Wagner has numerous issues with the weather over the last few weeks … However the Seahawks have nothing to complain about as Bryant had last weekend's series at Maine SNOWED OUT. Bryant did play a pair of mid-week games in preparation for the Green & White, losing to Boston College before blowing out Harvard. First pitch for Friday's game one is slated for 3:00 pm. Live Stats for all four games can be attained by clicking HERE