Pictured Above: Sophomore Ben Montenegro (Credit: Wagner College Athletics Department)
 
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San Diego, CA – With inclement weather in the forecast for Sunday, the Wagner College baseball team and the University of San Diego Toreros scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon to conclude the opening weekend series at Fowler Park.

In game one of Saturday's twinbill, the visiting Seahawks claimed an early two-run lead before the Toreros rallied to score a total of 14 runs in four of the next five frames and withstood a late Seahawk surge  in posting a 15-9 win.

Senior CF Joe Silvestrone went 4-of-5 at the plate with a run scored and a RBI. Pinch-hitter, Ben Montenegro went 2-for-2 with a triple and drove in three runs. Sophomore Mike Ruggiero and Brandon Hall also had two hits in the contest while Ruggiero and senior 3B Will Johnson scored twice in the doubleheader lidlifter. On the mound, senior RHP Eric Ligda took the loss (0-1) after giving up seven runs (four earned) on eight hits while walking one and striking out five. Newcomers John LaPointe and Justin Beyer made their Wagner debuts, combing to toss the final four frames.
 
USD top-of-the-lineup hitters (Tora Otsuka, Cody Jefferis and Shane McGuire) had two hits apiece in going a combined 6-of-15 while driving in five runs. Max Jung-Goldberg and Adam Kerner also had multi-hit days, with each of them scoring three runs while Kerner drove in two RBI. Ripken Reyes continued his torrid start, going 1-for-3 while recording a team-leading four RBIs in the victory. Paul Kunst, who came in as a replacement, also had two RBIs thanks to a two-run home run in the fifth.
 
Grady Miller (1-0) went five innings, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out three Seahawks. Noah Owen came on in relief to pitch three innings, in which Wagner nearly came all-the-way back in the game, after Owen gave up seven earned on seven hits. Nigel Ward worked a scoreless ninth.
 
A day after being held scoreless and to one hit, Wagner (0-2) got its first runs of the 2019 season in the top of the first. With two outs, senior CF Joe Silvestrone drew a walk and rising junior LF, Freddy Sabido, drove in the runs of the season for the Seahawks, sending a shot over the right field wall. For Sabido, the home run marked his 16th career round-tripper, which ties him for 11th on the all-time list with 2015 Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Year, and current Kansas City Royals prospect, Nick Dini (2012-15).

After working a scoreless bottom of the first, Ligda got into some trouble in the second, as USD sent ten men to the plate in the frame, scoring six runs on five hits in taking a 6-2 lead. The Toreros tacked on another run in the third, as Reyes singled to right, which scored Kerner from second base. The scored remained that way until the bottom of the fifth when Kunst homered down the left field line to increase the USD lead to 9-2.

The Seahawks' bats came alive in the top of the sixth, cutting the home team's advantage to 9-5. Junior 1B Tyler Sanfillippo singled back up-the-middle to lead off the Seahawk sixth. Johnson followed suit as the Green & White had two men on and nobody out. Ruggiero then drew a walk to load the bases for sophomore catcher, Brandon Hall. The second-year backstop sent a sacrifice fly to left, which plated home Sanfillippo. Montenegro was summoned to pinch-hit for freshman DH Shamus Connolly and came through with a two-run triple that cleared the bases and brought Wagner to within four.
 
In the bottom half of the frame, the Toreros answered back with five more tallies in upping the lead to 14-5 after against batting around in an inning, as Jefferis delivered a pivotal two-run RBI double down the right field line to push the lead back to nine. USD scored its final run of the contest in the bottom of the seventh on a Reyes RBI fielder's choice.
 
The Seahawks mounted a comeback in the top of the eighth, plating across four runs in the frame to trail 15-9. Johnson led off with a walk and moved to second after another base hit from Ruggiero. Hall beat out an infield single down the third base side to load the bases, before Montenegro delivered his third RBI of the game, sending a single to short which plated home Johnson. Sophomore OF Eric Lauk grounded out to second, which scored Ruggiero that made it 15-7. Senior Anthony Pecora flew out to center field to drive in Hall before Silvestrone singled back up the middle, allowing Montenegro to trout home.

This would be the closest Wagner would get, however, as Noah Ward came on to work a scoreless ninth in holding off the Seahawks 

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