Games 49-52 Wagner College Seahawks (18-30; 12-16 NEC) @ Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils (20-31; 12-16 NEC)
Game Details	Game 1 | May 19, 2016 | 1:00 PM | CCSU Baseball Field Game 2 | Doubleheader #1 | May 20, 2016 | 1:00 PM | CCSU Baseball Field Game 3 | Doubleheader #2 | May 20, 2016 | 3:00 PM | CCSU Baseball Field Game 4 | May 21, 2016 | 1:00 PM | CCSU Baseball Field
Game Coverage	May 19, 2016 | Live Stats May 20, 2016| Doubleheader #1 | Live Stats May 20, 2016 | Doubleheader #2 | Live Stats May 21, 2016 | Live Stats Twitter:                   @WagnerAthletics  Twitter:                   @WagBaseball Twitter Hashtag:     #CHAOSonthehill
Wagner Links	Roster | Schedule | Game Notes
Central Connecticut Links	Roster | Schedule

• After completing a four-game sweep of the defending NEC champions, Sacred Heart, Wagner enters the final week of the regular season with a chance to clinch an NEC Tournament berth, as the Seahawks head to New Britain, CT to square off against the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils in four-game series beginning on Thursday.
• NOTE-: Thursday's series opener against the Blue Devils is now scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start after being moved up from its original 3:00 p.m. start time.
• Both teams enter the final weekend tied for the final playoff spot with 12-16 league records. The Seahawks are on a five-game winning streak while the Blue Devils enter on a three-game losing streak after falling to Hartford, 10-0, in its non-conference finale on Tuesday afternoon.
• Central Connecticut holds the tiebreaker over Wagner as the Blue Devils won three out of four from Wagner on Staten Island back in April. 

• The Wagner baseball team kept its Northeast Conference (NEC) tournament chances alive in dramatic fashion as the Seahawks completed a  four-game sweep of the defending league champions, Sacred Heart, with a 6-4 win in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader.
• The victory gave Wagner its second four-game conference series sweep of the season as the Green & White improve to 18-30 and 12-16 in league play while the Pioneers have now lost four straight, falling to 27-23 and 17-10 in conference action. 
• Senior outfielders Trey Nicosia (State College, PA/State College Area) and Ben Ruta (West Windsor, NJ/West-Windsor Plainsboro South), along with junior catcher Brendan Benecke (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Liberty), each had two hits in the contest. Sophomore 2B Kyle Brey (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) delivered one of the biggest hits, a game-tying two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning.
• Freshman Cory Heitler (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) earned the win (1-2) while classmate LHP Neil Abbatiello (North Salem, NY/Dobbs Ferry) picked up his first career save, striking out Victor Sorrento with the bases loaded to end the contest.
• Wagner senior starter Nick Pavia (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph's By The Sea) pitched in the final home game of his career, tossing 5.0 innings of three-hit ball, giving up just three earned runs while striking out four batters.  Fellow senior Nick DiLeo (Brooklyn, NY/Xavier [St. John's]) pitched two innings of relief, giving up two hits and one earned run while striking out two batters, before giving way to Heitler.
• Alex Perry led the Sacred Heart offense with two hits. Jason Foley suffered his third loss of the season after allowing two earned runs and issuing three walks in his lone inning of work.  SHU starter John Sostarich worked 5.2 innings, yielding seven hits, three earned runs while walking three and striking out four in taking a no-decision. 

• Wagner and Central Connecticut have squared off against one another 75 times with the Blue Devils holding a 48-27 advantage in the head-to-head series.
• This season, Central took three of four from Wagner back in April.
• The Seahawks will need to at least win three of its final four games to have a chance of claiming a berth in the NEC Tournament.

• Central Connecticut enters the final weekend of the 2016 regular season on a three-game losing streak after falling to in-state rival, Hartford, 10-0, on Tuesday. 
• For the season, Dean Lockery and Connor Fitzsimons are hitting above .300 with Lockery connecting at a .354 clip while Fitzsimons is second on the team with a .318 average. 
• Fitzsimons leads the team with 27 RBIs while Andrew Hinckley has connected for a team-best three home runs on the year. 
• On the hill, the Blue Devils arms have posted a team ERA of 4.45 with Mike Appel leading the way with a team-low, 2.76 ERA.
• Hinckley is 7-3 on the season in 13 appearances and with eight starts to his credit. He has 49 strikeouts to just 15 walks in 66.1 innings of work.  

• Senior right fielder Ben Ruta (West Windsor, NJ / West-Windsor Plainsboro South) batted a sizzling .714 (10-for-14) with seven runs scored, four RBI and two walks in powering the surging Wagner baseball team to a four-game sweep of defending Northeast Conference (NEC) champion Sacred Heart this past weekend, has been named the conference's player of the week, the league office announced Monday. 
• In hitting more than 100 points higher than any other NEC player last week, Ruta helped the Seahawks remain in contention for the conference's final NEC Tourney berth. While playing a key role in propelling the Seahawks into a tie for fourth place with Central Connecticut in the league standings, Ruta accounted for a .786 on-base percentage while averaging 2.5 hits and 1.75 runs per contest.
• The Garden State product reached base safely no fewer than three times and drove in one run in each of Wagner's four victories over the second-place Pioneers. Ruta enjoyed a 4-for-4 showing at the plate during the series opener against Sacred Heart. He started the scoring for the Seahawks by connecting on a one-out RBI single in the first inning of the eventual 7-2 triumph.
• Ruta broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning of the opener, leading off with an infield single and eventually coming around to score an unearned run. He opened the scoring again for Wagner in Game 2, chasing home the tying run with a one-out single in the bottom half of the first frame. Ruta's stick was also responsible for driving home the Seahawks' first run in game three.
• For the fourth game in a row, Ruta took Wagner's zero off the scoreboard. With the Seahawks facing a 3-0 deficit in the fifth inning of the series finale, Ruta delivered a RBI single to centerfield to kick off the comeback effort in the eventual 6-4 win.

• Senior outfielders Ben Ruta (West Windsor, NJ/West-Windsor Plainsboro South) and Trey Nicosia (State College, PA/State College Area) along with junior SS Nick Mascelli (Clifton, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) are rapidly ascending on Wagner's all-time hits list.  
• Through 5/14/16, Mascelli stands with 187 career hits, one short of tying Gil Barkman ('00) for 10th all-time. Ruta enters the final weekend with 165 hits, one short of 15th place which is occupied by both Chris Drechsel ('09) and Joe Francisco ('99).
• Meanwhile, Nicosia is inching his way among the top-30, currently tied for 37th with Bill Curatolo ('91) with 126 career bases hits. 

• During its five-game win streak, Wagner's outfielders have contributed much to the success at the plate.
• Newly minted Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Week, Ben Ruta, is 11-for-17 over the last five games (.647 avg) while scoring seven runs, and driving in six RBIs.
• Trey Nicosia is 8-for-19 (.421) in his last five games with two doubles, and three sacrificie hits to his credit.
• Kyle Cala is batting .412 (7-for-17) while driving in four RBIs and also has two doubles to his credit.

• Senior outfielder Trey Nicosia (State College, PA/State College Area) is on pace to tie the single-season Wagner record for sacrifice hits, a mark he set back last season with 11, passing current assistant coach Dan Wasilick. 

• In nine games for the Phillies, Bailey is 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA in 9.0 innings pitched in relief. 
• Bailey earned his second win of the season back on May 12 in Atlanta as he pitched 0.1 innings as the Phillies earned a 7-4 win in ten innings.
• For the season, Bailey has held batters to a .200 batting average while striking out nine batters, his best strikeout total coming back on April 29 when he struck out four Cleveland Indians. 
• He was recalled by the Philadelphia Phillies (MLB) on April 20. 

• Finished his first season of professional baseball in 2015 as a member of the Idaho Falls Chukars (Rookie | Pioneer League| Kansas City Royals organization). 
• The 2015 NEC Player of the Year batted .316 with four home runs and 29 RBIs to go along with 11 doubles, 16 walks and a OPS (On-base + Slugging Percentage) of .847. 
• The Chukars open their 2016 season on June 15.

• The towering 6-10 righty is 2-3, with 4.74 ERA for the Great Lakes Loons. 
  In his most recent outing (5/12 @ Dayton), Long went a season-best six innings, yielding one hit, no runs, walked four and struck out a season-high seven batters in picking up the win.  

• Miller has recorded a hit in 22 of 29 games for the Jackson Generals (Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners).
• On the season, Miller is batting .264 with a OPS of .678 while going 11-for-11 in stolen base chances and scoring 20 runs on the season.

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