Pictured Above: Senior Ben Ruta, who went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs (Dave Saffran)
 
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Staten Island, NY - The Wagner baseball team banged out 18 hits and went on to defeat Mount St. Mary's in dramatic fashion when sophomore 2B Kyle Brey (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) darted home with the game-winning run in the 10th inning on a wild pitch, after starting the rally with a one-out single, lifting the Seahawks to a 9-8 victory on Sunday afternoon at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

With the win, the Green & White improve to 11-26; 6-14 in Northeast Conference play while the Mountaineers fall to 9-27 and are also 6-14 in league games.

Freshman LHP Neil Abbatiello (North Salem, NY/Dobbs Ferry) picked up the win in relief (2-3), pitching a scoreless top half of the 10th while striking out a batter.  Senior starter Matt Morris (Matawan, NJ/St. John Vianney) took the hill for the 43rd time in his career, which ties him for second on Wagner's all-time games started list with former Seahawk Matt Watson ('10).  The veteran left-hander tossed five innings, allowed six hits, five runs (one earned) while striking out four. 
 
Wagner's bullpen, comprised of freshman Cory Heitler (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn), seniors Nick DiLeo (Brooklyn, NY/Xavier [St. John's]) and Mike Adams (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Holy Spirit), along with Abbatiello, combined to throw five innings of five-hit ball. The quartet allowed just three runs (two earned) while not issuing a single walk and striking out four, with Heitler recording three of the four K's.
 
Ben Smallenbroek (1-3) suffered the loss for the Mount, surrendering one run (earned) which came on the 10th-inning wild pitch during senior RF Ben Ruta's (West Windsor, NJ/West-Windsor Plainsboro South) at bat. The righty gave up two hits and struck out one in 0.1 of an inning of relief.  Mount's starter, Chad Diehl, gave up five earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in four innings while Seth Schubert was touched for three runs (two earned) on four hits with one strikeout. 
 
Senior CF Trey Nicosia (State College, PA/State College Area) led the way offensively for the Seahawks, accounting for four of Wagner's18 base hits, while junior SS Nick Mascelli (Clifton, NJ/Seton Hall Prep), Ruta, sophomore designated hitter Anthony Godino (Thornwood, NY/Pleasantville) had three hits apiece. Sophomore LF Kyle Cala (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) added two hits with Ruta and Nicosia driving in three and two RBIs, respectively.
 
Patrick Causa led the Mountaineers with four hits while scoring two runs and driving in two.  Zach Hostetter and Alex Kriss each had two hits for the Mount with Hostetter driving in two RBIs as well.  Tyler Post had three runs scored in a 0-for-4 day.
 
Wagner led 8-5 through seven innings before the Mountaineers battled back to forge an 8-8 tie with a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth. In the bottom of the 10th, Brey got things started by sending a leadoff single back up the middle. Mascelli followed with a single through the right side as Brey made his way to third.  Nicosia then reached on a fielder's choice after Mount's third baseman went to tag out Brey, but the second-year Seahawk was able to beat him back to the bag as Mascelli moved up to second. 

Smallenbroek's wild pitch came with two outs, Ruta at the plate, and a pair of runners in scoring position, as Brey scampered in from third with the winning run.
 
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first, with the runs both coming with two outs.  Hostetter laced up the middle, scoring Post and Kriss. The visitors looked for more as Causa doubled down the right field line, which gave Mount runners on second and third but the threat ended when Morris struck out Chris Wessels looking at strike three.
 
The Green & White answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the frame on a Ruta RBI single, making it a 2-1 run contest.  Wagner wound up taking a two-run lead, 4-2, after erupting in the bottom of the second.
 
Mascelli ripped a single to left field which gave the home team runners on first and second and two outs.  Nicosia then sent a deep, double that sailed over the left fielder's grasp, plating Brey and Mascelli before coming home on Ruta's second RBI of the day. 
 
The Seahawks tacked on a run in the fourth and two in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-2 lead. In the fourth, Ruta drove in his third run of the contest on a single.  In the fifth, Cala smoked a double to the left centerfield gap that brought in Godino and later scored on a throwing error by the Mount's centerfielder.
 
Mount cut the deficit to two, 7-5, in the sixth with a three-run rally of its own.  Back-to-back walks and a single to short loaded the bases for Wessels, who sent a laser up the middle that was blocked by Brey, scoring Post.  A throwing error by sophomore 3B Sean Mazzio (West Chester, PA/Salesianum School [DE]) brought in both Causa and Hostetter before Kriss lined up to first ending the inning.
 
Wagner, however, added one in its half of the sixth as Godino sent a double down the left field line which scored Nicosia for the third time and extended the Seahawks' lead to 8-5. 
 
The Seahawks will remain at Richmond County Bank Ballpark as they welcome Fairleigh Dickinson for a four-game set, beginning on Friday, April 29 at 3:00 p.m.

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