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Staten Island, NY - Wagner broke open a close game with a five-run fifth en route to posting an 8-4 victory over Mount St. Mary's in the teams' series opener at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

The Seahawks improve to 21-23 and 13-8 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) with their sixth-straight win while the Mountaineers fall to 9-28 and 4-17 in the league.

Junior RHP Ryan Casey (Paramus, NJ / St. Joseph Regional) won for the third-straight start and the fifth time in six outings with 7.0 strong innings of work.

The Mount opened the scoring with a first-inning run on reigning National Player of the Week Tom Healy's sacrifice fly to right field.

After being limited to just one hit over the first three frames, Wagner finally broke through with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning while tying the game up at 1-1. Sophomore Nick Dini (Monroe Township, NJ / Monroe Township) led off with a double down the left field line, before advancing to third on graduate student Chase Gray's (Toms River, NJ / Toms River South / Seton Hall) sacrifice bunt. Senior Jayson Keel (Starkville, MS / Starkville / Holmes CC) followed with a sacrifice fly to right to plate Dini.

The Seahawks then busted the game open and took control of the game with a big fifth inning, scoring five runs on five hits.

Sophomore Jason Gordon (Baltimore, MD / Archbishop Curley) led off with a single, before moving to second on a Nick Alfano (Sr., Coral Springs, FL / North Broward Prep) sacrifice bunt. Junior Ian Miller (Downingtown, PA / Bishop Shanahan) followed with a bloop double to left field that plated Gordon while giving the Green & White a 2-1 lead. Classmate Chris Smith (Tampa, FL / Freedom / Ellsworth CC (IA)) then worked the count full, before earning a free pass. After Miller moved to third on a wild pitch with an excellent dirt-ball read, Smith swiped second. Dini then crushed his second double of the game, a shot to left center to easily scored both Miller and Smith. Gray followed with a double of his own to plate Dini. Junior Shaun Flynn (Tabernacle, NJ / Seneca / Burlington CC) then capped the scoring with a RBI single to right, chasing in Gray while extending the lead out to 6-1.

Wagner continued to pounce and added two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on a Miller RBI single and a Smith sacrifice fly to make it an 8-1 game.

Mount St. Mary's rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh inning on a Mark Quaranta RBI walk and a Sam Nott two-run double to left field, trimming the Seahawks' lead to 8-4. The damage could have been worse though as Casey picked off Nott at second, before inducing an inning-ending grounder.

The Mountaineers would again load the bases in the top of the eighth inning, only to fall short when sophomore RHP Steven Bloodworth (Annandale, NJ / North Hunterdon) induced an inning-ending grounder back to the mound to keep the visitors at bay.

Classmate RHP Anthony Battaglia (Staten Island, NY / St. Joseph By The Sea) then struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning to close out the Seahawks' decisive 8-4 victory.

Miller led the 13-hit Green & White offensive attack, going 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a run while Dini went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and two RBI. Alfano and Flynn joined the duo with two hits apiece, to round out the multiple-hit performers.

Jay Knight paced the Mount, finishing up 3-for-5 with two runs.

Casey (5-4) yielded four runs on nine hits with one strikeout in securing the victory. Michael Locondro (0-2) was saddled with the loss, surrendering five runs on four hits while recording just one out.

The teams will resume their series with a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 1:00 pm.

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Photography by Dave Saffran