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Brooklyn, NY - Junior LHP Matt Morris (Matawan, NJ / St. John Vianney) struck out six in a complete game effort and classmate Chris Smith (Tampa, FL / Freedom / Ellsworth CC (IA)) belted a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth inning, lifting Wagner to a 3-1 victory over LIU Brooklyn in the second game of a doubleheader at the LIU Field.

The Seahawks, which lost game one by a 9-6 count, improve to 24-25 and 16-10 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the Blackbirds fall to 17-30 and 13-13 in the league.

Wagner opened the scoring in the first inning thanks to the speed of junior Ian Miller (Downingtown, PA / Bishop Shanahan). The speedy centerfielder opened the game with a single to third. After stealing his 44th base of the year, Miller moved to third on a Smith sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Nick Dini (Monroe Township, NJ / Monroe Township) followed with a RBI ground out to third, plating Miller while giving the Seahawks an early 1-0 lead.

The Green & White threatened to score in each of the next two frames, only to be hindered by inopportune double plays.

LIU Brooklyn tied the game up at 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning on Mike Garcia's RBI fielder's choice, before the Blackbirds attempted to break the deadlock in a wild fourth inning.

With one out, Chris Untereiner crushed a ball to right center that was originally called a home run as rightfielder Nick Alfano (Sr., Coral Springs, FL / North Broward Prep) crashed into the outfield fence, knocking it over in the process. The ball was ruled to have landed in play, resulting in a ground rule double. One out later, Tito Marrero laced a single to left field. On the play, Untereiner tried to score all the way from second but was gunned out at the plate on a perfect throw from senior Jayson Keel (Starkville, MS / Starkville / Holmes CC) to Dini while preserving the tie.

With the momentum on the side of Wagner, Miller notched his second infield single of the game with one out in the fifth, before stealing second. Smith then deposited his second home run of the day to Ashland Avenue, plating Miller while staking the Seahawks to a 3-1 lead.

After Morris set down the Blackbirds in order in the bottom part of the frame, LIU Brooklyn threatened again in the sixth inning with a leadoff single. Undaunted, the hard-throwing Green & White lefty coaxed three fly outs to end the threat.

In the top of the seventh inning after Marrero walked with one out, Kyle DeMarco crushed a ball that appeared destined for the gap in right center. However, Miller tracked the ball down in stride for the second out of the frame. Morris then capped his third complete game of the year by inducing an game-ending fly out to Miller in center.

Miller went 2-for-4 with two runs and two stolen bases while Smith was 2-for-3 with his team-leading fourth home run and two RBI to pace an eight-hit Wagner attack.

Morris (4-3) yielded one run on six hits while striking out six, against just one walk, 7.0 dominating innings of work.

Staten Island native John Ziznewski went 2-for-3 while Marrero was 2-for-2 with a walk and a run to lead the way for LIU Brooklyn. RHP Jordan Wilcox (4-5) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk with two strikeouts over 7.0 innings of work.

The teams will now conclude their series with a 1:00 pm doubleheader on Sunday, May 12. Both games will be streamed for free via NEC Front Row.

NOTES:
* Miller stole four bases on the day and now has a Wagner and NEC-record 45 on the year, breaking Kyle Messineo's record of 42 set in 2007. Assistant coach Chris Collazo were teammates on that Monmouth team that won the NEC Tournament.

* As a unit, Wagner went a perfect 5-for-5 on the bases today and now have a school-record 113 steals on the year. With one more steal, the Seahawks will match FDU's NEC record of 114 set in 1988.

* A Green & White sweep on Sunday would clinch the program's first NEC Tournament berth since 2010.

* Smith's two home runs give him a team-leading four on the year.

* Morris improves to 3-2 with 34 strikeouts, three complete games and a 1.26 ERA over 35.2 innings during NEC play this year ... Additionally, Morris has allowed just three earned runs over his last five starts, spanning 30.0 innings.

* Graduate student Chase Gray (Toms River, NJ / Toms River South / Seton Hall) reached safely in both games and has now done so in each of his last 24 games.

* Wagner is now 11-6 in NEC games decided by three runs or less and 9-3 when allowing three runs or less.

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Photography by Dave Saffran