Lakewood, NJ - Following a lengthy, 18-game road trip, the Wagner baseball team will host its first series of the 2022 campaign, as they welcome defending Northeast Conference (NEC) champions, Central Connecticut, to FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, NJ.
Last Time Out...
- The Green and White gave up four runs over the first two innings but battled back in the late stages to trim the deficit to one in the eight before St. John's added two more in holding off the comeback, as the Seahawks fell 6-4 on Wednesday afternoon.
- Henry Martinez was one of five Seahawks to record a hit and was credited with the lone RBI of the contest.
- In relief of starter John LaPointe, the tandem of Zach Gorman and Jagger Duquette combined to toss 5.1 scoreless innings with Duquette recording a pair of strikeouts.
All-Time Against Central Connecticut...
- Wagner and CCSU have 99 times in program history with the Blue Devils holding a 66-33 edge in the head-to-head series.
- Wagner is looking to snap a nine-game losing streak to the Blue Devils, with their last win coming back on March 30, 2019, a 4-2 triumph in New Britain.
- The last time the Seahawks defeated Central Connecticut in a home contest was back on May 14, 2017, a 5-4, 11 inning affair, in which former Seahawk standout, Phil Capra, delivered the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 11th.
Seahawk Tidbits...
- Five Seahawks have played in every game this season - Maimu Kobayashi, Dante Faicchio, Mike Ruggiero, David Melfi, and Mateo Matthews.
- Kobayashi and Faicchio pace the team with a .276 and .275 batting average, respectively.
- Kobayashi leads the team in on-base percentage (.425) and tied with Faicchio with three steals.
- Faicchio has collected 19 hits to lead the way for the Seahawks. He, along with Ruggiero, has clubbed four home runs, which is also tied with Tommy Verga from FDU for third in the NEC.
- Faicchio leads the team with seven multi-hit games this season, having produced six games with two hits while also pacing the team with five multi-RBI games.
- On the mound, Daniel Merkel has held opponents to a .214 batting average in 21.2 innings thus far.
- The first-year Seahawk has pitched to a 1.12 ERA in his last two appearances while striking out four batters over a combined eight innings of work, highlighted by a four-hit,seven-inning outing at Penn (March 19).
About The Blue Devils...
- Central Connecticut, the two-time defending NEC champions, are 7-4 on the season and enter the weekend with a four-game win streak after posting a pair of victories over Dartmouth, Bradley, and most recently, Rhode Island.
- Dan Covino leads the team in average (.410), hits (16), doubles (5), and slugging (.692).
- Noah Martinez has connected on five home runs on the year to go along with a team-best 14 RBI.
- On the mound, Anthony Mozzicato and Dominic Niman each have two wins while Vincent Spizzoucco and Luke Garofalo have two saves.
- Niman and Garofalo lead the Blue Devils' arms with 12 strikeouts.
On Deck For Wagner...
- The Seahawks will close out the month of March on the road with a midweek stop at Seton Hall on March 30 before heading to Emmitsburg, MD for a three-game conference weekend against the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (April 1-3).
