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Smithfield, RI - Wagner (21-30; 14-14) concludes regular season play this weekend with four games at Northeast Conference (NEC) leader Bryant (30-20; 21-7). The Seahawks are still alive for a berth in the upcoming conference tournament, but will need to have a big weekend against the Bulldogs in order to qualify. Live video for all four games will be provided by Bryant and can be accessed via the link above for a nominal fee.

Wagner Baseball Capsule:
Roster / Schedule / Notes

Bryant Baseball Capsule:
Roster / Schedule

Schedule and Probable Starters
5/11 - vs. Bryant - 3:00 pm
Sr. RHP Ryan Van Spronsen (7-1) /  BRY: Jr. RHP Peter Kelich (8-2)
5/12 - vs. Bryant - 1:00 pm 
So. RHP Ryan Casey (4-3) / BRY: So. RHP Craig Schlitter (5-6)
5/12 - vs. Bryant - 3:30 pm 
Fr. RHP Dan Watson (2-4) / BRY: Jr. RHP Joseph Michaud (7-4)
5/13 - vs. Bryant - 1:00 pm
TBA / BRY: Fr. RHP Kevin McAvoy (4-1)

2012 Media Guide
The 2012 Wagner Baseball Media Guide is available for viewing by clicking HERE

Series Breakdown
The teams will begin their series with on Friday, May 11 with a single nine-inning at 3:00 pm, before playing a doubleheader consisting of two seven-inning games on Saturday, May 12at 1:00 pm. The series will conclude with a single nine-inning affair on Sunday, May 13 at 1:00 pm.

Playoff Periscope
Entering the final weekend of conference play the Seahawks (14-14 NEC) are in sixth place and are currently on the outside looking in the race for one of the four spots Bryant, which is a league-best 21-7, is ineligible for the conference tournament due to its reclassification status. Monmouth (20-8 NEC) is the only team to have clinched a spot, with FDU (17-11 NEC) needing just a win or a Wagner loss to gain entry. Sacred Heart (16-12 NEC), which split last weekend's series with the Seahawks, hosts Monmouth while Central Connecticut State (15-13 NEC) heads to Mount St. Mary's. To surpass the Blue Devils, the Green & White would need to finish a game up on CCSU, by virtue of losing the series between the teams.  To get past SHU, Wagner would to either finish one up or win just two if Sacred Heart gets swept, take three if the Pioneers win one or sweep the Bulldogs Bryant if SHU with MU.

Splits
This season during conference play, the Seahawks are 3-9 on the road while BU is 8-4 at home.

Series History
Since joining the NEC for baseball in 2010, Bryant holds a 6-2 record against the Green & White, with all eight meetings being decided by four runs or less, six by three or less, five by two or less and four by just one run. Last year, each team won two games at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

Last Time In Smithfield
Wagner's first-ever trip to Smithfield was one to forget in 2010. The Bulldogs swept all four games, including posting two walk-off victories.

Since Joining The NEC In 2010 ...
Bryant has posted a record of 95-65, including going 65-26 vs. the league. At home during that time, the Bulldogs are 40-18, including 33-10 against the NEC.

Last Weekend
The Seahawks split four games with Sacred Heart.

Rolling At Richmond County
Wagner capped its fifth year of play at Richmond County Bank Ballpark with a record of 13-9 (10-6 NEC). Since moving to the stadium in 2008, the Seahawks have won 13 series against just three losses while splitting seven. All told, the Green & White is 71-37 (48-26 NEC), all-time, at R.C.B. Ballpark.

Seniors Honored
Prior to Saturday's doubleheader with Sacred Heart (5/5) seniors Eddie Brown, Tommy Higgins, Hayden Hunter, Bill Murphy and Ryan Van Spronsen were honored in a pregame ceremony at the Stadium for their contributions to the Wagner program. Higgins, Hunter and Van Spronsen have played all four years for the Seahawks nd are the only remaining members of the program's 2009 NEC Regular Season Championship squad. Brown has played two years at Wagner after transferring from Seton Hall while Murphy joined the Seahawks this season.

Van Spronsen Caps Outstanding Year At Home
Van Spronsen earned the victory in his final home start, striking out five over 8.0 innings in a 15-5 win over Sacred Heart (5/4). At home, he went 4-1 with four complete games, 32 strikeouts and a 1.71 ERA over 42 innings in five home starts.

Interesting
After seeing the Green & White score just 18 runs over Van Spronsen's first six NEC starts, the Wagner offense exploded for 15 runs on 20 hits in the aforementioned win.

Van Spronsen ...
Is currently tied for second in the NEC with seven wins (46th NCAA), first with a school-record matching 91.0 innings of work, tied for first with six complete games (6th NCAA), second with a 2.08 ERA (45th NCAA) and fifth with 57 strikeouts. The Canadian native also has posted a 1.03 WHIP (56th NCAA).

Van Spronsen Honored
Van Spronsen missed the Seahawks' game against NJIT (5/1), but had a good excuse. The Canadian native was honored at the annual Senior Awards banquet for having the highest Male GPA (3.86) as well as earning Male Student-Athlete of the Year honors.

Something's Gotta Give
Van Spronsen (7-1, 2.08 ERA) will lock horns with Bryant's Peter Kelich (8-2, 1.88 ERA) in Friday's opener in a battle of two of the best pitchers in the league. When Van Spronsen takes the hill during conference play, Wagner is 5-2 while Kelich's Bulldogs are a perfect 7-0 in his starts. Last weekend, Kelich left with Monmouth holding a slim 5-4 lead only to see BU rally to tie the game in the ninth, before pulling out the victory in extras.

Did You Know ?
That Van Spronsen is 0-2 with an 8.18 ERA over 11.0 career innings in two starts against Bryant, while Kelich is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in 11.2 innings of work, all-time, against Wagner.

Bryant Pitching Setting The Tone
The main reason that the Bulldogs are threatening for their second NEC Regular Season Championship in three years is because of a potent pitching staff that has posted a 2.26 ERA during conference play while limiting batters to paltry .224 average. Despite Kelich's reputation (6-0 NEC) as one of the top pitchers in the league, it is game-four starter Kevin McAvoy, who has the lowest ERA (1.58) during league play en route to a 3-0 record over 45.2 innings of work.  Game-two starter Craig Schlitter is 4-3 with a 2.20 ERA over 45.0 innings, while game-three starter Joseph Michaud has gone 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 37.2 frames. All told, the foursome has allowed two runs or less 15 times with the BU going 15-0 in those games.

On Offense
Connor Carignan is the Bryant's top hitter with a .315 average while Jamie Skagerlind (.299, 15 doubles, 4 HR, 26 RBI) and Kevin Brown (.280, 13 doubles, 2 triples, 9 HR, 33 RBI) are the team's top power threats. The Bulldogs, which are batting a league-worst .261, are a perfect 14-0 during league play when notching at least four runs.

Yard Work
Hunter and junior Nick Alfano each hit their first career home runs at Bryant in 2010. Alfano's long ball capped a 4-for-5, three-run, two-RBI breakout performance, while staking the Seahawks to a two-run lead in the top of the 10th inning. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs would rally with three in the bottom of the frame to earn the victory and the sweep.

Pitching Prowess
Last year's series between the teams saw a combined total of 16 runs scored over four games. Sophomore Ian Miller led the way for Wagner, going 3-for-8 (.375) with a walk, while Hunter also was 3-for-8 with a RBI.

Close Games
In the Seahawks' 28 NEC games, 22 have been decided by four runs or less, including 19 by three runs or less. Meanwhile, BU has had 20 of its games decided by four runs or less, including 16 by three or less. In one-run games, the Green & White are 5-2 while Bryant is an impressive 8-1.

Going The Distance ...
Over seven NEC starts, Van Spronsen has pitched a total of 62.0 innings.  During that time, he has four complete games while going 10 innings at CCSU (4/27) and eight in a win over Sacred Heart (5/4). His 10 frames against the Blue Devils are the most by a Wagner pitcher since Mike Windstein went 10 innings in a 12-inning loss to St. John's on March 25, 2003 and the second-most by a NEC hurler this season.

Miller On Fire
To say that Miller has taken his game to another level this season would be an understatement. The speedy centerfielder ranks among the league leaders in average (.333) (5th), hits (63) (2nd), runs (38) (t-1st), stolen bases (32) (1st), walks (27) (4th) and OBP (.422) (5th). Miller's 63 hits are tied for the ninth-most in the school's single-season annals, while his 32 swipes are fifth. He is also in the midst of a personal-best 14 game hitting streak that has seen his average rise from .264 to .333. During that time, Miller is batting a blistering .483 (29-for-60) with 17 runs, 13 stolen bases, five extra-base hits and seven walks en route to posting a .544 OBP.

Additionally ...
Miller ranks seventh nationally with his 32 swipes and has a team-best 22 multi-hit games, which are the most by a Green & White player since former Chicago Cub farmhand Mike Cerminaro hit .404 in 2000. With seven hits Miller would also become the 47th member of the Wagner 100-hit club.

Freshmen In Name Only
While most freshmen tend to tail off at the end of the season, Nick Dini and Jason Gordon are bucking that trend in a big way as rookies. Dini smoked his first career home run, a two-run shot that staked Wagner to an early two-run lead, in a 4-2 win over Sacred Heart (5/5) in the second game of a doubleheader. He is second the team and 14th in the league with a .310 clip, which includes 57 hits (7th NEC) and a league-leading five triples. Dini is also just seven hits shy of Matt Mastrianni's freshman record of 64 hits, set in 2004. Gordon, meanwhile, has been one of the toughest outs on the team of late, going 8-for-16 with three walks over his last six games and came up clutch against Sacred Heart (5/5-5/6) over the weekend. In a tough game-two 8-6 loss against the Pioneers, his RBI single tied the game up in the bottom of the seventh. Gordon then went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run in the series finale.  Since collecting the game-winning hit in a doubleheader split with LIU Brooklyn (4/14), the Maryland native has raised his average 117 points to its current .302 mark while going 11-for-26 (.423) during that time.

Watson Comes Up Huge
Freshman RHP Dan Watson notched arguably his biggest career win in a 4-2 victory in the second game of last weekend's doubleheader at Sacred Heart (5/4), spinning six innings of two-run ball. Like his older brother 2009 NEC Pitcher of the Year, Matt Watson, Dan was able to work around trouble throughout the game, limiting the Pioneers to a .125 average (2-for-16) with runners in scoring position. Watson is 2-3 with a 24 strikeouts and a 3.75 ERA over 48.0 innings in seven conference starts.

Mad Max
Freshman RHP Max Schmardel struck out six over 7.1 innings of scoreless relief last week.

Keel Killing It At The Plate
Since going hitless in 25-straight at-bats, junior Jayson Keel is batting an even .500 (14-for-28) with 10 RBI, eight runs, four doubles, three stolen bases and six walks en route to a .553 OBP over his last nine games. During his recent hot streak, the Mississippi native has seen his average raise 51 points to its current .284 state, including .345 during league play. Keel ranks second on the team and tied for sixth in the league with 34 RBI, while his 22 RBI in NEC games rank third.

Smith Heating Up
Sophomore Chris Smith, who like Keel is in his first year on Grymes Hill after playing JUCO ball, is coming on strong at the end of the season. Over his last eight games, the Tampa, FL, native is hitting .429 (9-for-21) with eight runs and three walks while reaching base at a .538 clip. On the year, Smith is batting .254 with 10 RBI and seven extra-base hits.

Finishing Up Strong
Seniors Eddie Brown and Tommy Higgins have solidified the left side of the Wagner infield all season and have both been swinging big bats at the tail end of their senior seasons. Brown hit .357 over the weekend against Sacred Heart and ranks among the league leaders in average (.312) (13th), RBI (36) (t-4th), doubles (14) (t-5th), stolen bases (22) (2nd), runs (31) (t-9th), OBP (.399) (10th) and slugging (.459) (10th). Meanwhile, Higgins is batting .400 (20-for-50) with 10 RBI, seven runs and six doubles over his last 13 games.

Casey Clips CCSU
Sophomore RHP Ryan Casey notched the lone Seahawk win at CCSU (4/28) with a complete game effort in leading the Green & White to a 5-2 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. During league play, Casey is an impressive 4-1 with four complete games, 24 strikeouts and just five walks over 46.0 innings in seven NEC starts.

Miller, Brown Running Wild
Miller (32) and Brown (22) have combined for 54 of the Green & White's NEC-leading 78 stolen bases. The 54 swipes are more than the combined total of every NEC team besides Sacred Heart. Miller also has more stolen bases than the team-totals of CCSU, FDU and Quinnipiac.

Lucky Number 4
When Wagner scores more than four runs during NEC play, the Seahawks are 9-1 and are also 9-1 when allowing less than four runs.

Dini Is ...
One of two Wagner student-athlete to be honored by the NEC this season as Van Spronsen was tabbed as Pitcher of the Week following his CG, nine-strikeout, victory over JU (3/10), before Dini got it following his big week against Saint Peter's (4/17) and Iona (4/20-4/21).

Van Spronsen Lauded In Eric Sorensen's National Blog ... For Third Time 
Van Spronsen was recently cited by National College Baseball Writer Eric Sorenson in his national College Baseball Today blog for the third time this year, which encompasses all of NCAA Division I baseball. Here is the excerpt:

“You Stitch-Heads are going to start accusing me of being a Wagner homer here soon. But their ace, Ryan Van Spronsen, threw another complete-game in today's 1-0 win over Iona. The seven-inning effort ties Van Spronsen with Jackson State's Quintavious Drains for the most complete-game efforts this season with six. He also improves to 6-1 on the season with an ERA of 1.73.”

Relief
Freshman Anthony Battaglia has stepped up in a big way in his first year on Grymes Hill, recording a 1.84 ERA over 29.1 innings out of the bullpen while posting three wins and four saves. The righty has also not yielded an earned run in 17 of his team-leading 21 appearances.

Walk-Off Fun
Gordon was the walk-off hero in the Green & White's 3-2, 10-inning in game one of Saturday's doubleheader vs. LIU Brooklyn (4/14), before Murphy provided a walk-off hit of his own in the Seahawks' 5-4 victory over the Blackbirds (4/15) in the finale. Both hits came with no outs and the bases loaded.

Dini's Recent 16-Game Hitting Streak ...
Was the longest since by a Wagner player since former Baltimore Oriole farmhand Joey DiGeronimo opened the 2007 season with a 20-game tear.

Hurting
Two-time American League (AL) All Star and current Boston Red Sox reliever Andrew Bailey and current Washington National farmhand Joe Testa are each on the disabled list.

Higgins, Van Spronsen Ascend All-Time Seahawk Record Books
Higgins has 175 career hits and is currently 11th on the all-time Seahawk hit list, 13 back of Gil Barkman for 10th.  His 37 doubles are tied for fifth while his 188 career games rank seventh. Van Spronsen is tied for first in the single-season annals with 91.0 innings pitched (Joe Testa 2008), fourth with six complete games and tied for fifth with seven wins. For his career, Van Spronsen is tied for ninth in wins (13), fourth in innings (253.2) and eighth in strikeouts (166).

Yard Work 
The Green & White has eight home runs this season with five coming at home. Additionally, there have been two solo shots, four two-run drives and two three-run blasts.

2012 NEC Poll
Wagner was slated to finish seventh out of nine teams in the annual NEC Preseason Poll. The Seahawks will be looking to return to conference tournament after missing the four-team playoff last year for the first time since the 2007 campaign, and just the second time in the last eight years. Monmouth was tabbed first with defending champion Sacred Heart second, CCSU third, Bryant fourth, LIU Brooklyn fifth, Mount St. Mary's sixth, Wagner seventh, Quinnipiac eighth and FDU ninth.

Up Next
Should Wagner qualify for the 2012 NEC Tournament at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT, the Seahawks would next be in action on Thursday, May 17.