Wappingers Falls, NY - The #2 seed Wagner baseball team lost 12-3 to #1 seed Central Connecticut State in the 2023 Northeast Conference (NEC) Baseball Tournament Final on Sunday.

It was a thunderous start for the Seahawks. Senior David Melfi took NEC Pitcher of the Year Dominic Niman deep in the first inning to earn his team the early 2-0 lead. Graduate student John LaPointe, in his first start since March 22 against St. John's, then retired the side in the bottom half of the first.

The Blue Devils were able to knot it up during their next turn at the plate, but only generated one hit in the inning as the Seahawks had some hiccups occur. 

Wagner reclaimed its lead in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI double by senior Dante Faicchio. However, CCSU responded with two runs in the bottom half of the fourth to build its first lead of the game.

Sophomore Daniel Merkel pitched two scoreless innings in relief of freshman Ryan Bilka, but ran into trouble in the sixth and seventh innings. A three-run home run from Elliot Good in the bottom of the seventh effectively ended the game.

Junior Chris Conniff, sophomore Frankie Wright and Melfi were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Seahawks finish their season one win shy of their second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Green & White put up 32 total wins and 21 conference wins — both top marks since 2018.