Lakewood, NJ – The Wagner College baseball team held a 5-4 lead heading into the eighth before the Sacred Heart University Pioneers tallied ten runs over the final two innings to defeat the Seahawks, 15-8, on Friday afternoon from FirstEnergy Park.
Wagner (4-5; 2-2 NEC) produced 13 hits in the contest but committed a season-high five errors, two of which came in the eighth inning where Sacred Heart (5-13; 2-2 NEC) put up five runs on four hits.
Jared Gillen and
David Melfi each had three hits in this afternoon's contest and scored a run each.
Tyler Sanfilippo,
Freddy Sabido, and
Griffin Schneider had two hits with Sabido driving in a team-best two RBI.
Ryan Lauk took the ball for Wagner, firing off five innings in which he gave up three runs (two earned) while walking three and striking out nine batters.
Nick Zuppe (2-1) suffered the loss after going 2.1 innings and giving up six runs (two earned).
Justin Jordan and Justin Levito had two hits apiece for the Pioneers with Jordan scoring four times. Austin Markmann went 1 for 3 with four RBI and was one of three Sacred Heart hitters to score thrice in the contest.
Cooper Thompson started for the visitors, lasting 3.1 frames while giving up two runs on five hits. Jake Babuschak worked three innings in relief of Thompson, striking out seven batters despite allowing three runs on four hits. David Aufiero picked up the win, going 1.2 frames without allowing a run.
Inside The Boxscore…
Sacred Heart scored first off of a bases-loaded walk to Anthony Porrino and would control until the lead until the bottom of the fourth.
Sabido worked the count full and on Thompson's next pitch, the veteran Seahawk sent a towering fly ball that cleared the right-field wall, tying the game at 1-1. The next batter, Schneider, sent a solo shot over the left-centerfield wall, giving Wagner its first lead of the day, 2-1.
The Seahawks threatened for more as Melfi and
Mike Ruggiero reached base but Babuschak struck out the final two batters of the stanza, keeping the deficit at one.
The Pioneers regained the lead, 3-2, with two runs in the top of the fifth. Elijah Brown doubled to right and came into score on a two-run double by Robert Farruggio. The next inning, the visitors added two more runs in building a 5-2 advantage, as two Seahawk errors proved costly, allowing Sacred Heart to add to its total.
Wagner fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh.
Henry Martinez, who came on as a defensive replacement in the top half of the frame, drew a leadoff walk. Gillen continued his hot hitting from the plate, sending a single to center.
Babuschak threw consecutive wild pitches, that allowed Martinez to score Wagner's third run of the game.
Tyler Sanfilippo drew a walk to give the Seahawks runners on the corners for Sabido.
On a 0-2 pitch, the left-handed slugger flew out to the deepest part of right field as Gillen tagged up and cut the lead down to one, 5-4. Schneider sent a hard-hit ball to third, which gave Wagner runners on first and second while ending Babuschak's day.
Aufiero hit Melfi to load the bases for Ruggiero. With the count at 1-1, Ruggiero sent a grounder towards short as Sanfilippo came charging home to tie the game at 5-5.
In the eighth, Sacred Heart nearly batted around in the stanza, scoring five times on four hits and capitalizing on two Wagner errors. Levito sent a one-out triple to left and scored the go-ahead run on a Jordan infield single to short.
Markmann cleared the bases with a two-run double that made it 8-5. Farruggio grounded out to third which plated home Markmann for the ninth run of the day for SHU before Porrino sent a single to center, scoring Daubon that made it 10-5.
In the ninth, the visitors tacked on five more runs on just one hit in the inning.
Dallen Turner replaced
Justin Beyer to start the inning. After striking out Joey Skarad, the sophomore right-hander walked the bases loaded before hitting Markmann with an errant pitch, scoring Levito, as SHU went ahead, 11-5.
Two more walks brought in two more runs that upped the lead to 13-5 before
Nick LePre came on for Turner. LePre struck out Porrino looking but a two-out single to center off the bat of Julian Pedrouzo increased the lead to double digits, 15-5.
Wagner continued to grind back in the game. In the last of the ninth, Melfi sent a one-out single to center to start a potential rally. Ruggiero followed up with a base hit to right, giving Wagner runners on the corners before
Jake Lutz was awarded first base after being hit by a pitch.
Quinn Mimnaugh pinch-hit for
AJ Medrano and was plunked by a pitch from Nick Jaskolski that scored Melfi.
Similar to the top half, Martinez drew a bases-loaded walk, scoring Ruggiero as Wagner trailed 15-7. Gillen sent a towering shot to center as Lutz tagged up and scored, which made it 15-8.
Following the third Seahawk to be hit by a pitch, Sanfilippo reached first that reloaded the bases for Sabido. Sacred Heart called on the left-hander, Michael Attonito, to face the lefty Sabido and got the better of him, striking him out to end the ballgame.
These two teams will conclude their weekend series with a doubleheader tomorrow at FirstEnergy Park, as the first pitch is set for noon.
