Pictured Above: Junior Neil Abbatiello (Credit: Brian Foley)
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Norwich, CT - First Team All-Conference left-hander
Neil Abbatiello spun a complete-game gem in helping No. 2-seeded Wagner to a 3-1 win over the No. 4-seeded Mount St. Mary's in Friday's Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament elimination contest at Dodd Stadium.
The Seahawks (37-17) and Bryant will square off in an elimination game on Saturday at 12:00 pm ET. The winner will move on to face LIU Brooklyn at 4:00 pm ET. An "if necessary" game is slated for Sunday. All games can be seen LIVE at NECFrontRow.com
With today's loss, Mount St. Mary's was eliminated from the tournament, finishing the season with a 21-33 overall record.
Abbatiello's performance is the first complete game thrown in the NEC Tournament since May 22, 2015, when Sacred Heart's Jason Foley went the distance against Fairleigh Dickinson, allowing two hits and no runs in the Pioneers' 10-0 win over the Knights. In running his record to 8-0 on the season, Abbatiello tossed an efficient four-hitter, with six strikeouts and two walks on the afternoon.
Senior shortstop
Sean Mazzio provided much of the offense for Wagner, finishing with two hits and two RBI. Classmate,
Nick Mascelli, along with juniors
Joe Silvestrone and
Anthony Pecora added two hits apiece. Junior catcher
Phil Capra,went 1-for-4 while being credited with the other RBI.
Patrick Causa led the way for Mount St. Mary's, going 2-for-3 with the lone RBI. Myles Nicholson and Brendan Dabagian had the only other base hits. On the mound, Brenden Kennedy only lasted two innings for the Mountaineers and was charged with all three runs on seven hits while adding a strikeout. Michael Kuypers came on in relief, firing seven scoreless frames, while just giving up three hits with three walks and two strikeouts added to his ledger.
Wagner jumped out to the early 1-0 lead. Senior LF
Anthony Godino lead off with a double down the left field line and came around to score when Mazzio singled through the left side in giving the visitors the early advantage.
Abbatiello worked quickly in the bottom of the first, retiring the first two batters on just four pitches. The North Salem, NY native fell behind in the count to Causa, who lofted a towering shot to left that was just beyond Godino's reach to tie the game at one.
The Seahawks broke the 1-1 tie with two runs in the top of the third which turned out to be the difference in the contest. On a 1-2 pitch from Kennedy, Mazzio drove in his second RBI of the afternoon, connecting on his second home run of the season as Wagner took a 2-1 lead.
The hits continued for the Green & White as Mascelli recorded his second hit of the day, a double down the left field line. For the senior captain, it marked the 250th of his career.
Capra followed suit with an RBI single to left center, increasing the lead to two, 3-1.
Mount went to its bullpen in the form of Michael Kuypers, who issued a free pass to Sabido before retiring the final two men in the frame. The Mountaineers opened the bottom of third with a single from Brendan Dabagian, stopping a string of four straight retired from the southpaw.
Dabagian moved to second on the sacrifice bunt by Jared Urban. The Mountaineers were able to get runners in scoring position as Nicholson reached on a throwing error by Pecora over at third. Abbatiello settled back on the hill and struck out Kriss and got Causa to fly out to Brey at first.
The NEC First-Teamer Abbatiello continued to overpower the Mount's hitters, retiring the next eight in a row until Nicholson singled through the left side. He walked Causa on four pitches before getting help from his defense, as Mascelli made a sliding stop to his left, flipped to Mazzio who tossed it over to first to end the inning.
From that point, Abbatiello didn't allow a hit until Causa reached on a single through the left side. Vaughn Parker II walked, giving the Mountaineers runners on first and second before Thomas Savastio flew out to right for the second out of the inning. Abbatiello closed out the game getting Randall Minogue to ground out to Pecora, who raced to the third base bag in preserving the Seahawk win.
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