Box Score / Box Score (PDF) / Mammino Postgame Interview

West Long Branch, NJ - Freshman LHP Paul Mammino (Hillsborough, NJ / Hillsborough) notched a career-best six strikeouts over a career-high 8.0 innings of work and Nick Dini (Monroe Township, NJ / Monroe Township) went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of stolen bases to lead Wagner to a 6-3 win over Monmouth in the series finale of the teams' four-game set at the MU Baseball Field.

With the win, the Seahawks snap an eight-game road losing streak to the Hawks in moving to 13-19 and 6-6 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while MU falls to 20-13 and 12-4 in the league.

For the second-straight game, Wagner opened the scoring with a first-inning tally. Just like game one, junior Ian Miller (Downingtown, PA / Bishop Shanahan) singled, before stealing second. One out later, Dini plated Miller for the first run of the game with a double down the left field line.

Monmouth immediately responded with a two-out score in the bottom part of the frame as Owen Stewart chased home Jake Gronsky with a RBI single to left field.

The Hawks took their first lead of the game at 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning on Joe Bamford's RBI single through the left side.

Just like clockwork, Wagner answered with two runs in the top of the fourth inning in reclaiming the lead at 3-2. Sophomore Tommy Mazurkiewicz (Neshanic Station, NJ / Somerville) led off with a single, before scoring one out later on junior Shaun Flynn's (Tabernacle, NJ / Seneca / Burlington CC) run-scoring double to left field. After Flynn moved to third on a wild pitch, sophomore Jason Gordon (Baltimore, MD / Archbishop Curley) plated him with a single through the drawn-in infield.

Monmouth would fight back to tie the game up at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning with its second unearned run of the game. However, Mammino kept the score deadlocked when he got Gronsky at the plate for the second out as the Hawks' unsuccessfully attempted a safety squeeze. Mammino then struck out Joe Bamford for the final out of the frame while limiting the damage to one run.

After both teams failed to dent the scoreboard in the sixth inning, Wagner broke through with a run in the top of the seventh inning. Sophomore Dan Wasilick (Toms River, NJ / Toms River East) led off with a single, before moving to second on a pass ball. Following an out, junior Chris Smith (Tampa, FL / Freedom / Ellsworth CC (IA)) moved Wasilick to third with an infield single. Dini then plated Wasilick with a perfectly placed single through the right side to make it a 4-3 game.

Mammino would bend but not break over the next two frames, working around a pair of two-out hits in each inning before putting some seperation between the teams in the top of the ninth.

Smith laced a one-out single, before swiping second. Dini then delivered his third run-scoring hit of the game, a single to left field to extend the lead out to 5-3, before taking second on the throw home. After a pitching change, Dini stole third and would come around to score on a Mazurkiewicz fielder's choice to the shortstop.

Junior RHP Anthony Battaglia (Staten Island, NY / St. Joseph By The Sea) then got the final three outs in the bottom of the inning in recording his fourth save of the season.

Joining Dini with multiple hits was Smith (2-for-5, 2 SB) and Keel (2-for-3, 2B) as the threesome paced the Seahawks' 12-hit attack.

Gronsky was the lone multi-hit performer for the Hawks, finishing 2-for-5 with a double, triple and run.

Mammino became the first Green & White rookie hurler to start his career 4-0 since Jack Rice in 2008 with the win.

MU LHP Dan Smith (1-6) was saddled with the loss, striking out five while allowing four runs on 10 hits over 7.0 solid innings.

Wagner returns to action with a midweek tilt at Saint Peter's on Tuesday, April 16 at 3:00 pm.

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Photography by Dave Saffran