College Station, TX - After serving up two runs in the first inning of Saturday's matchup at #8 Texas A&M at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park, the Wagner baseball team shut out the Aggies over the final eight innings, ultimately coming up short in its search of an upset, 2-0.
The tandem of junior Connor Hayden and sophomore Ryan Bilka spearheaded the upset bid. Hayden gave up just one earned run in the first before finishing his four innings of work with just five hits allowed. Bilka followed up Hayden with 3.2 shutout innings out of the bullpen.
A punchout of Jace LaViolette to end the seventh pumped up the Seahawks, but the offense couldn't capitalize on the momentum boost. Bilka then ran into trouble in the eighth before graduate student Alec Burnett closed the door on the Aggies.
The upset-minded Seahawks entered the ninth down two runs, but the bats went down in order to end the game. Senior Lukas Torres led the offense with two hits — his third of the season.
Wagner has new life heading into the series finale on Sunday. It will be looking for a marquee win at 1:00 pm CT on SEC Network Plus.
