Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College baseball team will look to extend its winning streak to five straight, as it welcomes Big East members, Villanova, to the Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George tonight.
All-Time Series vs. Wildcats: Wagner and Villanova will be meeting for the ninth time in program history, with the head-to-head series favoring the Wildcats at 5-3. The last time these two teams met was back on March 15, 2015, in which the Seahawks earned a 4-1 victory over Villanova, thanks to a solid pitching performance from RHP
Austin Goeke (Bordentown, NJ/The Hun School), who went five innings while allowing three hits, and striking out seven at the Big Five Baseball Bash.
Scouting The Wildcats: Villanova enters tonight's contest 7-20 overall on the season and is 1-4 in its last five contests, most recently dropping two of three to George Washington University. Todd Czinege is the team's leading hitter, batting .301 on the season while also pacing the club in home runs (2) and RBIs (14) while slugging a team-best .398 and posting a on-base percentage of .378. On the hill, Hunter Schryver leads the Wildcats in wins (3), and ERA (2.47) while striking out a team-high 55 batters in 40.0 innings.
Back To Where It Began: Tuesday's contest will be reunion of sorts for two members of both team's coaching staff. Before accepting the head coaching job at Wagner, current head coach
Jim Carone spent three season as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for Villanova. Carone helped revitalize a pitching staff that in return had seven hurlers selected by Major League teams, highlighted by right-hander Kyle McMyne, who was selected in the fourth round by the Cincinnati Reds. In 2010, Carone's pitching unit posted Villanova's lowest ERA in over a decade while ranking 32nd nationally at 4.37, despite the fact that 10 of the squad's 14 pitchers were underclassmen. Two of his upperclassmen, Mike Francisco and Brian Streilein
, were chosen in the MLB Amateur Draft as Francisco was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010 and the Milwaukee Brewers in 2011 while Streilein was picked by the Houston Astros in 2010. Current Villanova assistant coach, Eddie Brown, spent five seasons as a member of the Wagner baseball program, three as assistant coach. Brown played two seasons with the Green & White and was coach Carone's starting shortstop in 2012, Carone's first season as head coach. In 2012, Brown batted a team-leading .314 as a senior with 15 doubles and stealing 22 bases. Brown drove in 36 RBIs that season, which ranks 15th-best for a single-season and his 22 swipes are the tenth-most for a season in program history.
Over The Last Ten Games: The Green & White is 6-4 in its last ten games and is riding a four-game win streak entering play with the Wildcats on Tuesday evening. Junior OF
Anthony Godino (Thornwood, NY/Pleasantville) is nearly hitting .400 over his last ten games, going 13-for-33 (.394) with ten runs scored, three doubles, a home run and nine RBIs while swiping four stolen bases. During the last ten games, Godino is slugging .636 while posting an on-base percentage of .500. Sophomore C/INF
Phil Capra (North Salem, NY/North Salem) is batting .382 (13-for-34) while recording two triples and driving in a team-best 10 RBIs during this stretch.
Moving Up In The Record Books: Junior INF
Sean Mazzio (West Chester, PA/Salesianum School [DE]) and Godino are moving up on the Seahawk all-time hits list. Mazzio is now tied with former Seahawk Kevin Rugg ('00) for 48th place at 114 while Godino comes in with 111, tied for 49th with Paul Kurella ('01) with 111. Goeke is now in sole possession of 11th place all-time on the strikeout list with 155, moving past former Seahawk hurler, Mark Nugent ('98).
