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Staten Island Advance Recap (Jim Waggoner)

Piscataway, NJ – Trailing 4-1, the Wagner baseball team erupted for 10 runs on eight hits in the eighth inning and went on to post an 11-4 come-from-behind victory over Big 10 member Rutgers on Tuesday afternoon.

With the win, the Seahawks improve to 9-10-1 on the season while the Scarlet Knights fall to 10-20 on the year. Wagner's 10-run inning is a season-high and the most since the Seahawks posted eight runs in the fourth inning against Northeast Conference rival Mount St. Mary's back on May 2, 2014. 
 
Today's win marked the second straight season that the Seahawks have knocked off the Scarlet Knights and  head coach Joe Litterio, who served as Wagner's head coach from 2001-2012. On April 23, 2014, the Seahawks earned a 10-7 win over Rutgers at Richmond County Park. Wagner has now beaten Rutgers twice in the last five years as the Seahawks, with Litterio at the helm, earned an 11-5 road victory over the Scarlet Knights on March 30, 2011.

"We had some pretty good at-bats throughout the game with not much to show for until the eighth inning," commented Wagner fourth-year head coach Jim Carone.

Sophomore left-handed starter Alex Amadeo (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph By The Sea) lasted only an inning before four Wagner pitchers combined to throw eight innings of strong relief, allowing just two runs. Junior right-hander Nathan Hunt (Kirtland, OH/Hawken School) picked up his first win of the year, as the third-year Seahawk shut the door on a bases-loaded, two-out Scarlet Knights' threat in the bottom of the seventh inning.   

Rutgers took a 1-0 first-inning lead as right fielder Tom Marcinczyk and LF Vinny Zarrillo singled in back-to-back plate appearances with Marcinczyk advancing to third on Zarrillo's hit. The Scarlet Knights scored the first on its third straight single as Chris Suseck singled to right, scoring Marcinczyk.

The Seahawks answered with a run in the top of the second inning as with one-out, senior 1B Tommy Mazurkiewicz (Neshanic Station, NJ/Somerville) was awarded first base after being hit-by-a-pitch from starter John O'Reilly. The fourth-year first baseman was able to move into scoring position after stealing second base on Kyle Brey's (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) strikeout and eventually wound up on third on a wild pitch during senior RF Zack Yesko's (Mukwonago, WI/Mukwonago) at bat.

Freshman 3B Sean Mazzio (West Chester, PA/Salesianum School [DE]) then singled through the right, side scoring Mazurkiewicz to even the game at 1-1. The next Seahawk batter, freshman 2B Phil Dickinson (Wenonah, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) walked on four pitches to load the bases for senior CF Trey Nicosia (State College, PA/State College Area) but he grounded out to second to end the inning.

The Scarlet Knights went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the second. Christian Campbell led off the frame with a walk and advanced to third on a single by Milo Freeman before Mike Carter reached on a fielder's choice to the shortstop, allowing Campbell to cross the plate. 

Rutgers' lead increased to 4-1 in the fourth as John Jennings and Carter both doubled with one out for a run. Carter then stole third and came around  to score on a wild pitch from fifth-year senior Nick Pavia (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph By The Sea), who was brought in for Amadeo after in the bottom of the second.

In the bottom of the fifth, Carone signaled for junior left-hander Paul Mammino (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough). After allowing a bunt single, Mammino struck out Campbell on five pitches and ended the stanza with a Freeman grounder to second. In his second inning of relief, Mammino worked a 1-2-3 inning, recording a fly-out to center off the bat of Jennings, a six-pitch strikeout of Carter, before forcing Joe D'Annunzio to pop-out to the third baseman. 

 After getting the first two Scarlet Knights out on a total of six pitches in the bottom of the seventh, Mammino worked into a jam as he walked Chris Suseck on seven pitches, gave up a single to R.J. Devish on the first pitch that the Rutgers' backstop saw, before issuing a walk to Campbell.

Carone made the move to the bullpen and signaled for the 6-3, hard-throwing righty in Hunt. On the fifth pitch, Hunt was able to get Freeman to fly out to left, promptly ending the inning. 
 
Rutgers then brought Colin Bohnert in to pitch for starter John O'Reilly, who went 7.0 innings, allowing just three Wagner hits while giving up only one run. Bohnert gave up a lead-off single to left to SS Nick Mascelli (Clifton, NJ/Seton Hall Prep). The next batter, Ben Ruta (West Windsor, NJ/West-Windsor Plainsboro South) reached on a fielder's choice to first. With one out, reigning Northeast Conference Player and ECAC Player of the Week Nick Dini (Monroe Township, NJ/Monroe Township) laced a double down the left field line, advancing Ruta to third on the play. 

Wagner cut the deficit in half, 4-2, as Mazurkiewicz singled to right, scoring Ruta. The veteran first baseman advanced to second on a RBI single from Anthony Godino (Thornwood, NY/Pleasantville), who plated Dini to cut the lead to a run at 4-3.  Rutgers then called upon Max Hermann to replace Bohnert.  On a 2-1 pitch, Yesko singled to left field, moving Godino and Mazukiewicz into scoring position while loading up the bases for Mazzio. The freshman third baseman patiently drew an eight-pitch walk which tied the game at 4-4. 

The next batter for Wagner, sophomore Brendan Benecke (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Liberty) delivered the game-winning hit a two-run double to center, scoring Yesko and Godino. Rutgers went to the pen for the third time in the stanza, as Ryan Fleming was brought in. Nicosia reached on a fielding error by the shortstop which scored Mazzio to give Wagner a 7-4 lead. 

After a Mascelli RBI single extended the lead to 8-4, Ruta cleared the bases with a triple down the right field line as Wagner scored its 10th run of the inning, giving the visitors an 11-4 advantage that they would not relinquish.
 
Senior Anthony Battaglia (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph By The Sea) then came on to pitch two scoreless innings of relief as the Seahawks picked up their ninth overall victory and their third comeback win of the season.

"Mammino and Hunt were outstanding in relief as they kept us within striking distance," Carone said after the win. "Battaglia shut the door with two scoreless innings after we got the lead. It was just a tremendous come-from-behind win today against a very good team in Rutgers."

Wagner returns home to Richmond County Bank Ballpark tomorrow, April 8, as the Seahawks welcome Big East member Seton Hall University. First pitch between the Seahawks and Pirates is scheduled for 3:30 pm. 

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@WagnerAthletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department, @WagBaseball for news and updates on the baseball program.