Pictured Above: Senior outfielder Joe Silvestrone, who connected on his first home run of the season (Credit: Greg Fencik)
 
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Johnson City, TN – The Wagner College baseball team scored the first run of Saturday's contest before the East Tennessee State Bucs scored six unanswered in defeating the Seahawks, 6-1, on Saturday afternoon at Thomas Stadium.
 
Wagner (0-4) was held to two hits in the series opener, as senior CF Joe Silvestrone connected on his first home run of the season, a towering shot that cleared the left field wall in the first while classmate Anthony Pecora ripped a single in the top of the sixth inning.
 
Senior LHP Neil Abbatiello went five innings, in which he gave up one earned run on three hits while walking three and striking out three in earning a no-decision. Newcomer Justin Beyer, who came on for Abbatiello in the sixth, took the loss (0-1) after going three innings and giving up five earned runs on six. Beyer, appearing in his second game this season, struck four in relief.
 
ETSU's Micah Kaczor throw seven innings of two-hit ball, allowing the lone run in picking up his first win of the 2019 season. Kaczor struck out five Seahawks while walking one in his second game of the year. Nathanial Tate closed out the game, throwing two scoreless frames while striking out three batters.
 
Noah Hill and Colby Emmertz led the way for the home team with a pair of hits while Jackson Greer went 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Jake Lyle and Markell Graham each scored twice in Saturday's contest.
 
With two outs, Silvestrone gave the visitors an early 1-0 lead as he took Kaczor's 1-1 pitch deep to left field for his first round-tripper of the season. For the senior outfielder, it marked his fifth career home run. The Buccaneers tied the game up in the second inning as Ethan Cady took the first pitch he saw from Abbatiello over the right field fence.
 
The game remained tied at 1-1 until the bottom of the seventh when ETSU plated across two to take a 3-1 lead. Markell Graham was hit by a pitch and moved to second on wild pitch from Beyer. Jake Lyle was also hit by an errant pitch, which gave the Bucs runners on first and second with no outs.
 
Sean Kearney moved the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt before Jackson Greer was intentionally walked, as Wagner was looking for the inning-ending double play. Noah Hill was able to plate the go-ahead score with a single through the right side and Cade Gilbert followed that with a RBI single that scored Lyle in giving East Tennessee State a 3-1 lead.
 
ETSU tacked on two more in the bottom of the eight after retiring the Seahawks in order in the top half of the frame. A wild pitch from Beyer allowed Graham to come across for the Bucs fourth run before Greer double in two as the Buccaneers took game one of the series.
 
These two squads will close out the weekend with a doubleheader, beginning at 11:00 a.m. from Thomas Stadium. Game two is slated to start 45 minutes after the completion of the first game.

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