Lakewood, NJ – Wagner sophomore catcher
David Melfi homered in both games of Saturday's doubleheader as the Seahawks earned a split against the LIU Sharks at FirstEnergy Park, earning an 8-3 come-from-behind victory in game one before dropping the nightcap, 14-3.
Wagner now stands at 6-11 overall on the season and 4-8 in Northeast Conference (NEC) action while LIU moves to 10-6 and 8-4 in league action.
Game One Recap –Wagner 8, LIU 3
Five Seahawks had two hits apiece, led by Melfi, who was the catalyst at the plate, driving in three RBI and scoring twice.
Henry Martinez also crossed the plate twice and added two hits.
Mike Ruggiero,
Cody Bey, and
Ethan Valdez with a pair of hits in the opener.
Tyler Sanfilippo, who finished 1 for 2 with a run scored, drew three walks in game one. Martinez, Ruggiero, Valdez,
Jared Gillen, and
Freddy Sabido each drove in an RBI in the victory.
Junior left-hander,
John LaPointe, earned his first win of the season after throwing 7.1 scoreless innings in relief of starter
Josh Casado. The Staten Island, NY native did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and once again to start the ninth.
LIU's Nick Torres was saddled with the loss after being charged with three runs in just a third of an inning of relief. The Sharks starter, Alec Huertas, last seven innings, surrendering three runs on eight hits while walking five and striking out seven batters.
The Sharks got on the board in the first as Christopher Wasson lofted a sacrifice fly to right field that plated home EJ Exposito. The visitors tacked on two more runs in the top of the second to take a 3-0 lead.
Casado walked the leadoff man before Carlton Harper singled to right. The Sharks nearly scored when Cade Biddle sent a grounder to first, but Sanfilippo alertly fired a strike to Melfi, who was able to cut down Colin Adams for the second out.
Anthony Warneke sent an RBI single and moved to second as Seth Surrett crossed the plate as LIU went ahead 2-0. Two straight walks brought in the second run of the frame and ended Casado's day. LaPointe came on and got Wasson to fly out to right.
Wagner did not waste time responding, tying the ballgame in the bottom of the inning. Martinez worked a leadoff walk. Sanfilippo drew a one-out walk, giving the Seahawk two men on base.
After a strikeout of Sabido, Melfi torched Huertas 1-0 pitch down the right-field line for a double that scored Martinez and Sanfilippo, cutting the lead to 3-2.
Griffin Schneider worked a five-pitch walk. The next batter, Ruggiero, roped a single back up the middle as Melfi crossed the plate to tie the game at 3-3.
LaPointe was on point, retiring the Sharks in order in four of the next five frames. Torres came on for Huertas to start the eight and the first batter he saw was Melfi. The second-year catcher worked the count full and on the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Melfi belted the pitch over the left-field wall, giving Wagner the lead at 4-3.
The momentum carried on. Schneider walked. With one out, Bey singled to left center, which ended Torres' outing. Josh Gainer came in for Torres to face Valdez's, who started a string of three straight hits, which led to three runs coming in. Schneider came on Valdez' RBI base hit that upped Wagner's lead to 5-3.
The next batter, Martinez, bunted up the third baseline. Bey, who reached on a single to left-center, eluded the tag by the Sharks' catcher and came into score the third run of the inning.
Gillen sent an RBI single to centerfield that plated Valdez as the Seahawks went ahead by four, 7-3. Gillen stole second and Sanfilippo walked, which gave the home team two runners on and ended Gainer's day.
Patrick Clyne toed the mound for LIU to face Sabido, who grounded out to second for the second out, but, not before Martinez crossed the plate as Wagner now led 8-3.
The Sharks tried to stage a comeback. Harper led off with a single through the left side off LaPointe but the crafty southpaw was able to retire the pinch-hitter, Brian O'Boyle, for the first out. A walk to Biddle gave LIU a chance, but LaPointe, refocused on the hill and got Warneke to pop out to Ruggiero at short and Exposito to fly out to end the game.
Game Two Recap – Wagner 3, LIU 14
LIU opened the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader with four runs on three hits in the first inning. Two straight walks opened the game for the Sharks. Davyn Adamscheck sent an RBI single to center field for the first run for the visitors.
The next batter, Wasson, doubled down the left-field line that plated home Exposito. Andy Camilo pushed one through the right side that scored both Adamscheck and Wasson that made it 4-0.
The visitors added one in the top of the third as Camilo sent a sacrifice fly to left.
LIU batted around in the fourth, scoring six times in taking an 11-0 lead. Exposito sent a hard-hit ball to third as Harper scored that increased the lead to 6-0. Wasson singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by the Gillen as both Exposito and Warneke scored that bumped the advantage to 8-0.
On a 1-1 pitch from Jagger Duquette, Camilo cleared the bases as he sent a three-run home run over the left-field wall, as LIU held an 11-0 edge.
The first pitch that Melfi saw in the fourth, he liked, as he connected on his second home run of the day, sending a towering shot to left for Wagner's first run. Martinez added a sacrifice fly to centerfield that scored Schneider.
The Seahawks scored its third run on a Jake Lutz sacrifice fly to center as Schneider came across to score again as Wagner trailed 11-3.
The visitors scored three runs over the seventh and eighth. Adams led off the seventh with a solo home run to left-center followed by a sacrifice fly to left for his second RBI in as many innings. Harper added brought in Wasson on a single through the left side as the Sharks didn't relinquish the lead.
Mike Lazos ran his record to 5-0 for LIU after going seven while allowing three runs and striking out three. Camilo finished 2 for 3 with six RBI. Wasson went 4 for 4 with three runs scored and three RBI in the win.
Sabido and Schneider had two hits for Wagner while Martinez, Melfi, and Lutz had the RBI for the home team. Pat Gallagher took the loss in game two, lasting just three innings while giving up five runs on four hits.
The next seven games for the Seahawks will all be road contests, beginning on Friday, April 16 through April 18 as Wagner travels to Merrimack to take on the Warriors in North Andover, MA.
