Pictured Above: Anthony Godino, who went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs in Wagner's regular season finale (Photo Taken by: Robert M. Pimpsner, Pinstripedprospects.com)
Emmitsburg, MD – The Wagner College baseball team closed out the 2017 Northeast Conference (NEC) regular season with a 7-3 victory over the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Seahawks finish the season at 21-26; 13-12 in league play while the Mountaineers end with an overall record of 8-39 and 5-23 in conference contests.
For the third time under sixth-year head coach Jim Carone's watch, the Green & White are participating in the NEC Tournament, as they will be the No. 3 seed and take on the No. 2 seeded, Central Connecticut State Blue Devils. The overall No. 1 seed, the Bryant University Bulldogs, will take on the No. 4 seed, Sacred Heart, who defeated LIU Brooklyn, 5-4, in their season finale.
Sophomore LHP Neil Abbatiello (North Salem, NY/Dobbs Ferry) made his fourth start of the season and notched his first career complete game, giving up five hits, three earned runs, while allowing three walks and striking out five for his first win of the year (1-4).
Junior LF Anthony Godino (Thornwood, NY/Pleasantville), who was slotted into the leadoff for the first time this season, went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and drove in three RBIs in the victory. Sophomore SS Anthony Pecora (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) finished with his 11th multi-hit game of the year, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Freshman designated hitter Freddy Sabido (Staten Island, NY/Susan E. Wagner [Saint Louis Univ]) and sophomore CF Joe Silvestrone (Manalapan, NJ/Freehold Township) each drove in a RBI in the contest.
Mount St. Mary's starter Jordan Lawson went 8.1 innings in taking the loss (1-9). Lawson allowed nine hits, seven runs (five earned) while walking one and striking out a game-high six batters. At the plate, Vaughn Parker II went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Alex Kriss finished 1-for-3 and accounting for all the Mountaineers runs.
Godino led off the game with a solo home run to left field, his seventh of the season and eighth round tripper of his three-year Seahawk career. Wagner added two more runs in the top of the fourth in taking a 3-0 lead. Junior RF Kyle Cala (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) reached on an infield single to third base and moved up to second on a throwing error from Lawson.
A single to left off the bat of sophomore catcher Phil Capra (North Salem, NY/North Salem) gave the Seahawks runners on the corners with no one out. Sabido sent a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Cala to score. The next batter, Pecora, rocketed a single to third, as he and Capra were on with one out. Silvestrone took Lawson's 2-2 pitch to left field, plating Capra as Wagner went up by three.
Abbatiello ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth after blanking the Mountaineers over the first four frames. Parker singled through the right side to begin the stanza. Zach Hostetter drew a walk. Brendan Dabagian moved the runners over on a sacrifice bunt for the first out of the inning. Joshua Lenig failed to bring in the runner from third as he grounded out on the first pitch he saw. Kriss, however, cleared the bases with a three-run home run, tying the game at 3-3.
Following a scoreless sixth, Wagner put up a three-spot in the top of the seventh, taking a 6-3 lead. Senior 1B Brad Currao (Howell, NJ/St. Rose) reached on a bunt single up the third base line. Junior 2B Kyle Brey (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) walked, bringing up Godino. Facing a full count, Godino tripled to the deepest part of center, scoring Brey and Currao before crossing the plate on a throwing error from the Mountaineers' second baseman.
Wagner tacked on a run in the top of the eight in taking a 7-3 lead. Pecora, like Godino an inning before, tripled to center field and came into score when Silvestrone struck out but reached first on a wild pitch. The Mountaineers had a chance in the ninth. Tyler Post led off the inning with a walk. A batter later, Parker sent a single through the left side, giving the home team runners on first and second with one out.
Hostetter was called out on the infield fly rule and Abbatiello secured the victory as Dabagian grounded to the Seahawk 3B, freshman Nick D'Amore (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti), who threw out Parker at second to end the contest.
The No. 3 seeded Seahawks and No. 2 seeded Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils will square off on Thursday, May 25 at 3:30 p.m from Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT. These two teams are meeting in the NEC Tournament for the eighth time, with their last encounter coming back in 2010, when the Green & White was also the No. 3 seed and the Blue Devils were the No. 2 seed.
