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Hamden, CT - Junior Ian Miller (Downingtown, PA / Bishop Shanahan) threw out the would-be tying run at the plate for the second out in the bottom of seventh inning, before sophomore RHP Anthony Battaglia (Staten Island, NY / St. Joseph By The Sea) struck out Forrest Dwyer looking to propell Wagner to the 8-7 win in thrilling fashion in game two of a doubleheader at the QU Baseball Field.

The Seahawks, which took game one by a 3-1 count, improve to 18-23 and 11-8 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the Bobcats fall to 10-28 and 5-14 in the league.

Wagner was bolstered by its 1-5 hitters in today's second game as the quintet of Miller, Chris Smith (Jr., Tampa, FL / Freedom / Ellsworth CC), Nick Dini (So., Monroe Township, NJ / Monroe Township), Chase Gray (GS, Toms River, NJ / Toms River South / Seton Hall) and Jayson Keel (Sr., Starkville, MS / Starkville / Holmes CC) went 9-for-15 with seven runs, six RBI, three stolen bases and three doubles.

The Seahawks plated a pair of runs in the first inning for the second-straight game thanks to three-straight hits. Miller led off with a single to left field, before Smith followed with a double to left center. Dini then plated both runners with a line-drive single to center field.

Quinnipiac rallied to tie the game up at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the second inning, before taking a 3-2 lead in the third with a single score

Wagner would rally to reclaim the lead at 7-3 in the top of the fifth inning with five runs on six hits while sending 10 batters to the plate. Miller led off with a single, before stealing second. One out later, Miller took third on a wild pitch before scoring on a Dini RBI single to left. Gray then extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a double down the right field line while pushing Dini to third. Both runners would then come around to score when Keel singled to right field. After Bobcat reliever Gary Binkiewicz struck out the first batter he faced, sophomore Tommy Mazurkiewicz (Neshanic Station, NJ / Somerville) plated Keel with a double to right center. Senior Nick Alfano (Coral Springs, FL / North Broward Prep) then drew a walk, before Jason Gordon (Baltimore, MD / Archbishop Curley) blooped a 0-2 pitch to left field to score Mazurkiewicz while staking the Seahawks to a 7-3 lead.

In the bottom part of the frame, QU would get one of those runs back on a Green & White miscue while trimming the deficit to 7-4.

Wagner would then add to the lead with a bizarre play in the top of the sixth inning. With one out and Smith on second base, Gray hit what would prove to be a sacrifice fly to deep center. On the play, the centerfielder fell down after making the catch, and Smith never stopped running in scoring all the way from second in extending the lead out to 8-4.

In the bottom part of the frame, Quinnipiac would get that run back to trim the lead to 8-5 while setting the scene for a wild ninth inning.

The Bobcats would load the bases with no outs against Battaglia. The Seahawks closer then induced a weak fly to left field for the first out, before walking the next hitter to force in a run. Michael Palladino then singled up the middle to trim the deficit to 8-7, before Miller threw a perfect strike to get Brian Ruditys at the plate for out number two. Battaglia then fanned Dwyer to end the game while stranding the tying run at second for his sixth save of the year.

Dini led the way with three RBI while Keel added a pair as Miller and Smith each scored twice, with all four players notching at least two hits.

Freshman RHP Mike Adams (Egg Harbor Township, NJ / Holy Spirit) improved to 2-5 with the win, striking out three while yielding five runs, three earned, on eight hits over 6.0 innings.

Scott Donaghue, Dwyer and Ryan Nelson all notched two hit to lead the way for QU. RHP Nick Fabrizio (2-6) suffered the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits over 4.1 innings of work with six strikeouts.

Wagner, which has now won eight of the last nine meetings between the teams in Hamden, will look for the series sweep tomorrow at 1:00 pm.

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Photography by Dave Saffran