Game 18 Wagner College Seahawks (8-9) @ St. John's University Red Storm (11-9-1)  March 30, 2016
Game Details	March 30, 2016 | Queens, NY | Jack Kaiser Stadium
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Queens, NY  - After sweeping its Northeast Conference (NEC) opening four-game series against the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers, the Wagner College baseball team will make the short trip to Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens as the Seahawks take on the St. John's University Red Storm on Wednesday afternoon. 


PROBABLE STARTERS
Wednesday: 
Wagner:         LHP Paul Mammino (1-1; 3.24 ERA)
St. John's:      RHP Matt Messier (1-0; 2.35 ERA)
 

SERIES HISTORY: 

• Wednesday's contest marks the 66th all-time meeting between the schools, with the Red Storm holding a 55-10 edge in the head-to-head series.
• These two programs first met back on April 21, 1956, when the Seahawks defeated the Red Storm, 6-5, on Staten Island.
• St. John's has won 7 of the last ten meetings.
• Wagner will be looking for its first victory over the Red Storm since taking the nightcap of the April 3, 2013, doubleheader, 22-16, at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
• In that contest, Wagner trailed 14-4 after five innings before erupting for 18 runs over the next three frames in posting the 22-16 come-from-behind victory.
• The only active players from that game are senior OF Ben Ruta (West Windsor, NJ/West-Windsor Plainsboro South) and senior RHP Nathan Hunt (Kirtland, OH/Hawken School).
• Ruta went 3-for-6 with three runs scored and 3 RBIs while Hunt earned the win, hurling 2.2 innings, giving up two hits, an earned run, walking one and striking out a batter.

LAST TIME OUT FOR WAGNER:

• Wagner's starting pitcher Matt Morris (Matawan, NJ/St. John Vianney) and a duo of relievers kept the Mountaineers' offense in check while junior SS Nick Mascelli (Clifton, NJ/Seton Hall Prep), the eventual NEC Player of the Week, and senior CF Ben Ruta (West Windsor, NJ/West-Windsor Plainsboro South) provided the offense as the Seahawks took the series finale from Mount St. Mary's, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon.
• The four-game sweep of the Mount improves Wagner's overall record to 8-9 (4-0 in NEC play).The Mountaineers fell to 2-16 and 1-7 in league play. The victory marked the 100th career win for 2015 NEC Coach of the Year, Jim Carone, who becomes just the fourth Seahawk head coach to amass 100 victories, joining Joe Litterio (240), Herb Sutter (149), and Rich Vitaliano (120).
• Morris (2-1) and Mount starter Connor Graber matched each other's zeroes through the first five innings with Morris allowing just three hits and striking out four batters. Graber, on the other hand, lasted eight innings, giving up four hits, one run and striking out five.
• In the sixth, however, Wagner broke the deadlock. Junior backstop Brendan Benecke (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Liberty) opened the frame with a double to left-center and advanced to third on a passed ball.  After sophomore 2B Kyle Brey (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) grounded out to second, Mascelli flew out to center as Benecke tagged up from third, scoring the game's first run.
• In the bottom of the sixth, Carone turned to his bullpen in the form of senior RHP Nathan Hunt (Kirtland, OH/Hawken School). After allowing a leadoff single to Zach Hostetter and a walk to Tyler Post, Hunt settled down and struck out Patrick Causa looking before inducing Vaughn Parker II into grounding into a 1-4-3 double play to end the stanza.
• After a scoreless top half of the eighth, Carone signaled to senior RHP Nick Pavia (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph By The Sea) and was able to strike out Alex Kriss before Hostetter singled through the left side.  The veteran Seahawk hurler regained his focus on the hill, getting Post to fly out to center before closing the inning with a strikeout of Causa.
• Wagner tacked on its second run of the contest in the final inning. Mascelli led off with a single to center field.  After sophomore 3B Sean Mazzio (West Chester, PA/Salesianum School [DE]) executed a sacrifice bunt, advancing Mascelli to second, Ruta singled up the middle which plated Mascelli, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead.
• In the bottom of the ninth, Pavia only surrendered a lead-off single through the left side off the bat of Parker II. Dennis Stewart pinch-hit for Zach Call and struck out swinging on a 2-2 pitch.  The Mountaineers used another pinch hitter in Dalton Clouser. Pavia was able to get him to fly out to left. The Mount's final batter, Tommy Quealy, grounded out to short preserving the shutout and extending Wagner's win streak to four.

COACH CARONE GETS 100TH CAREER WIN:

• 2015 Northeast Conference Coach of the Year, Jim Carone, earned career win No. 100 on Saturday, March 26 as the Seahawks blanked the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers, 2-0, to wrap up the four-game sweep.
• The win for Carone makes him just the fourth Seahawk coach in history to record at least 100 victories.

Coach	All-Time Record	Years Coached At Wagner
Joe Litterio	240-372-2	12
Herb Sutter	149-128-7	16
Rich Vitaliano	120-208-3	8
JIM CARONE	100-131-1	5

MASCELLI NAMED NORTHEAST CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:

• The Northeast Conference (NEC) league office announced Monday afternoon that junior shortstop Nick Mascelli (Clifton, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) was tabbed NEC Player of the Week.
• For Mascelli, today's citation is his second Player of the Week award, garnering his first-ever award back on April 13, 2015.
• Over the four-game series at Mount St. Mary's, Mascelli powered Wagner to a four-game sweep in which the veteran shortstop batted .667 (12-for-18) with three walks, seven RBIs and nine runs scored.  He slugged 1.278 for the series with five of his 12 hits resulting in extra bases. The Clifton, NJ native was locked in at the plate from the start, going a career-best 5-for-6 with a pair of home runs to spearhead a 20-4 series-opening triumph on March 24.
• He went deep again as part of a 3-for-5 performance in game 1 of Friday's doubleheader, a 17-4 victory for the visiting Seahawks.  In the second game of the doubleheader, Mascelli led off the contest with a double and eventually came around to score Wagner's first run in the 14-6 win. He was responsible for both Wagner's runs in the series finale, a 2-0 shutout. 
• On the season, Mascelli ranks second in the NCAA with a .486 batting average while ranking fifth as one of the toughest to strike out, only fanning twice this season. His .519 on-base percentage also ranks among the top-25 in the country.

CAPRA DIEM: CAPRA GARNERS FIRST NEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK AWARD:

• The Northeast Conference (NEC) league office announced on Monday afternoon that freshman Phil Capra (North Salem, NY/North Salem) was named NEC Rookie of the Week.
• Capra was a key contributor in Wagner's offensive explosion that yielded 53 runs in four games. Serving as the Green & White's designated hitter in three of the first four games, the North Salem, NY native produced seven hits, 10 RBIs and five runs scored. 
• Capra connected on an extra-base hit in each of the three contest and struck out only once in the span of 14 plate appearances.
• He went 2-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored in the Seahawks' 20-4 series opener. In Friday's doubleheader, Capra homered in each half of the twin bill, helping the Seahawks total 31 runs in 14 innings of baseball.
• Following a 4-for-5 performance that featured a two-run go-ahead round tripper in the fifth inning of the first game, he launched a three-run bomb in Wagner's half of the third in the nightcap.
• For the weekend, Capra batted .467 with an on-base percentage of .556 and slugged .933. Through the first 14 games of his career, he is hitting .351 with a .526 slugging percentage while ranking in the top-50 nationally in runs batted in per game (1.21).

MOUNTING UP THE RUNS:

• In the Seahawks conference opener on the road against Mount St. Mary's, Wagner outscored the Mountaineers by a 53-14 advantage, which includes scoring double-digit runs in three of the first four games.
• Over the last eight games, the two have met (which favors Wagner 6-2), the Green & White have outscored Mount St. Mary's 91-36.

 
 
ON DECK FOR WAGNER:

• The Seahawks resume NEC play as they host the Central Connecticut University Blue Devils, April 1st through April 3 with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday, April 2.

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