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Staten Island, NY - After picking up a pair of wins in its annual spring break trip, Wagner (3-11) returns home to host Quinnipiac (1-8) in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for both teams at Richmond County Bank Ballpark. The teams will play four games starting on Friday at 3:00 pm. Green & White fans can receive live updates through the Wagner Twitter Page, which can be accessed by clicking on the above link.

Wagner Baseball Capsule:
Roster / Schedule / Notes

Quinnipiac Baseball Capsule:
Roster / Schedule / Preview

Schedule and Probable Starters
3/16 - Quinnipiac  - 3:00 pm
Wagner Sr. RHP Ryan Van Spronsen (2-0) / Quinnipiac: Jr. RHP Derek Lamacchia (0-1)
3/17 Quinnipiac - 1:00 pm
Wagner So. RHP Ryan Casey (0-1) / Quinnipiac: Jr. RHP George Dummar (1-1)
3/17 Quinnipiac - 3:30 pm (aprox.)
Wagner Jr. RHP Dakota Dvorak (0-3) / Quinnipiac: Jr. RHP Spencer Kane (0-2)
3/18 Quinnipiac - 1:00 pm
Wagner TBA  / Quinnipiac: So. RHP Nick Fabrizio (0-1)

Series Breakdown
The series with a single game on Friday, March 16 (3:00 pm) before the Seahawks and Bobcats partake in a doubleheader that will consist of two seven-inning games on Saturday, March 17 (1:00 pm / 3:30 pm). The serires will then conclude with a single nine-inning affair on Sunday, March 18 (1:00 pm).

Seahawks Take Series From Jacksonville
Buoyed by a total-team effort, Wagner won 2-of-3 against preseason Top-40 selection Jacksonville (3/9-3/11), as the Seahawks claimed their first pre-NEC series victory since taking 2-of-3 from Maine in 2009.

Van Spronsen In The News
Van Spronsen led the Green & White to a 4-1 victory over JU (3/10), striking nine while hurling his first career 9.0-inning complete game. Van Spronsen's performance earned him his first career NEC Pitcher of the Week citation and garnered the Canadian native praise from Eric Sorenson in his College Baseball Today blog, which encompasses all of NCAA Division I baseball.

Long Time Coming
Van Spronsen's NEC accolade was the first by a Wagner pitcher since Matt Watson won the award just over two years ago on March 1, 2010.

Van Spronsen Silences The Big Dogs
Both of Van Spronsen's wins this year have come against teams that partook in NCAA Regional play a year ago. In victories vs. Charlotte (3/3) and Jacksonville (3/10), he has struck out 11 while with a 2.12 ERA over 17.0 innings. Additionally, in a no-decision at defending WAC Regular Season Champion Hawaii (2/24), he allowed one run on just one hit over 5.0 innings.

DID YOU KNOW?
That the Seahawks' first 13 games were against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament or won their conference championship.

Wagner Named Northeast Region Team Of The Week By College Baseball Insider
On the heels of its come-from-behind 6-5 win over Jacksonville, which followed Van Spronsen's impressive performance, the Green & White garnered Northeast Region Team of the Week accolades by College Baseball Insider. Click HERE for more information.

Murphy Uprising
Graduate student Bill Murphy might possess the most interesting storyline in all of college baseball. Murphy played three seasons at Rutgers as a pitcher before sitting out all of last season and saving a year of eligibility. This year, his first as a position player, Murphy has gotten off to impressive start at the plate. After going hitless in his first five at-bats, he has gone 9-for-22 (.409) at the plate while hitting safely in a team-best six-straight games. On the year, Murphy has the team's lone three-hit game while reaching base safely in all eight of his starts en route to posting team-highs in batting (.333) and on-base percentage (.288).

In Wagner's Three Wins ...
The Seahawks have scored 21 runs while posting a 3.33 ERA

In Wagner's 11 Losses ...
The Green & White have notched 22 runs while posting an 8.90 ERA.

Yard Work
Sophomore Chris Smith hit his first career home run and the second of the year by a Wagner player at Virginia Tech (3/14).

Leading The Way
At first glance at sophomore Ian Miller's season stats, one may think the sophomore centerfielder is having a tough season due to his .182 average. However, that is far from the truth as Miller has posted team-highs with nine walks and six stolen bases en route to an impressive  .321 OBP. In the Seahawks' series victory over Jacksonville (3/9-3/11), Miller hit a blistering .455 with a .571 OBP while swiping four bases in proving to be a menace to Dolphin pitchers.

Road Warriors
The Green & White have traveled approximately 15,500 miles in their season-opening 14-game road trip.

Carmon, Battaglia Finish Off Series Win At Jacksonville
In Wagner's game-three 6-5 victory over Jacksonville (3/11), the freshmen duo of Ryan Carmon and Anthony Battaglia helped close out the Dolphins. Carmon earned his first win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief before Battaglia notched his first career save with two strikeouts over 1.2 innings of work. On the year, the duo has struck out 10 while posting a 0.64 ERA over 14.0 innings.

Carone Collects First Win
Head coach Jim Carone collected his first collegiate win as a head coach by an 11-4 count in the first game of a doubleheader at Charlotte (3/3).

Big Three
The trio of senior #Eddie Brown, senior Hayden Hunter and junior Jayson Keel have combined to go 11-for-24 (.458) with runners in scoring position ... Unfortunately, the rest of the team is just 11-for-90 (.122).

Listen Up Youngsters
Seniors Tommy Higgins, Hunter and Van Spronsen are the only three players left from Wagner's 2009 NEC Regular Season Championship squad. The trio's leadership will be counted on this season, especially due to the fact the Seahawks boast 16 freshmen.

Trial By Fire
Eight of the 13 pitchers used by Carone this season are freshmen with just two remaining from the team's last postseason appearance in 2010. The eight freshmen have accounted 56.2 percent (64/113) of Wagner's innings and 61.4 percent (35/57) of the strikeouts.

NEC Openers
The Seahawks won seven-straight NEC Openers and eight-of-nine since the 2002 season. The lone loss was against Quinnipiac on March 22, 2004. In that game, current Baltimore Oriole farmhand Pat Egan defeated Boston Red Sox reliever Andrew Bailey.

Last Seven
In the aforementioned seven-game winning streak in conference openers, the Green & White have outscored its opposition by a 60-20 count. Four of the wins were captured by student-athletes, who would go on to play affiliated ball: Bailey (2004), Kyle Morrison (2007) and Joe Testa (2008). Additionally, Wagner is 4-0 all-time in NEC-openers at Richmond County Bank Ballpark since moving to the stadium in 2008 while outscoring the opposition by a 41-15 margin.

Additionally
The Seahawks are 20-6 in their first NEC series of the year over the last seven years.

Wag-QU Notes
Over the last four years, the Green & White have posted a 13-3 record against the Bobcats. During that time, Wagner has won all eight meetings at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, including going 6-0 during that time in games decided by three runs or less.

Last Year
The Seahawks took three-of-four from the Bobcats last year, thanks to hitting a blistering .359. Leading the charge was led by Brown, who clouted an impressive .417 average with five RBI and was plunked five times, leading to a .556 OBP. Higgins and junior Nick Alfano also had big weekends with each player hitting .357. Van Spronsen and Dvorak, are the only two pitchers on the roster who saw action during the weekend series, combining to allow just three hits over 8.0 scoreless frames.

Van Spronsen Solid Vs. QU
In four career games against Quinnipiac, Van Spronsen has allowed just two unearned runs on six hits with eight strikeouts over 10.2 innings of work.

Newcomer Breakdown
Among the 19 newcomers are 16 freshmen, one sophomore, one junior and one graduate student. 10 are position players, seven are pitchers and two pitch and play the field. Additionally, 12 hail from the state of New Jersey while fueling a roster that features 16 Garden State natives among its 31 student-athletes.

Higgins Ascends Career Hits List
Higgins recently moved into 22nd place on the all-time Wagner hits list as the slick-fielding infielder currently has 139 base knocks.

Tough Schedule
Wagner will play 13 of its 57 games against teams that are projected to qualify for the NCAA Baseball Tournament as forecasted by Baseball America. On the docket are games at Charlotte (4x), at Jacksonville (3x), at Georgia Tech (1x), Monmouth (4x) and St. John's (1x). Additionally, the Seahawks will take on defending WAC Co-Champion Hawaii for five games while also squaring up with Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Seton Hall and reigning American East Champion Maine.

Richmond County Bank Ballpark
For the fifth-straight year the Wagner Seahawks will call the state-of-the-art 7,171 seat Richmond County Bank Ballpark home. The Stadium, which overlooks the Manhattan skyline, also outfits the Short-Season Staten Island Yankees during the summer months. Since moving to the Stadium in 2008, the Green & White are 58-28 and will play a school-record 23 home games in 2012. Click HERE to see the ballpark

Interesting
The Seahawks will square off with six of Baseball America's Top-100 prospects this season: Jacksonville OF/1B Adam Brett Walker (#31), Monmouth RHP Pat Light (#58), St. John's OF Jeremy Baltz (#74), Georgia Tech OF Brandon Thomas (#77), Georgia Tech RHP Buck Farmer (#92) and St. John's RHP Kyle Hanson (#94).

Up Next
Wagner heads to Lafayette on Wednesday, March 21 at 3:00 pm.