Staten Island, NY — Wagner baseball won its series opener with Merrimack then dropped game two to even the series after playing a doubleheader for the season's home opener.

The Seahawks won game won 6-4 with a strong showing from both the pitching staff and hitters. In the second game of the afternoon, Wagner fell 8-3 as Merrimack rallied back for a late-game scoring burst in the seven-inning game.

Game One

It was a balanced approach for Wagner in game one, with the pitching staff holding the Warriors scoreless in seven of nine innings played, while the offense pushed in the sixth inning to put up four runs to break a 2-2 tie.

Starting pitcher Connor Hayden was a workhorse again for the Seahawks, going 5.0 innings and finishing his outing with just three hits and two runs. His efficiency on the mound has kept opponents from getting to the bullpen early and his two starts this season have both ended in Wagner wins.

Lefty reliever Keith Davis followed Hayden and finished with the win for game one, throwing 1.1 innings and just 24 pitches. After giving up two runs in the top of the seventh, righty Andrew Ravelo entered the game and faced three batters in an 0.2-inning appearance where he gave up no runs and no hits.

Junior Jason Masick closed the game and recorded his first save of the season with a 2.0-inning, one-hit closing appearance to keep the Warriors off the board in the final two frames.

At the plate, four different Seahawks had a multi-hit game and seven recorded a hit. Second baseman Nicholas Mazzotta and shortstop Matt Sutera each had two hits with two RBIs, with first baseman Joseph Mennella and third baseman Connor Roche putting up the other two two-hit performances.

The sixth inning marked the swing in the game for the Seahawks. Coming in tied 2-2, a single through the left side from Mennella started the hot hitting. Right fielder Bryce Phelps followed with a single, then Roche's sacrifice advanced the runners. Sutera stepped to the plate with two runners in scoring position and after a pitching change brought in James Borsari for the Warriors, Sutera ambushed him early and landed a hit in centerfield for a 2-RBI single.

In that four-inning sixth, Wagner finished with those four runs on four hits, which made the difference for the win. The Seahawks had the defense to match that effort at the plate. Merrimack had just four runs on five hits, with 10 batters striking out and just three earning walks.

Game Two

The Warriors had an answer to Wagner in the second game, ending the doubleheader with an 8-3 win in seven innings of play.

In the shortened game, Merrimack put up three runs through the first two innings. The Seahawks, consistently refusing to give up runs unanswered through this season's five games, came back with a three-run third inning, but five runs in the sixth from the Warriors shut the door on a potential comeback.

All three runs came courtesy of a Diego Tavarez home run to right field, his second long ball of the short season. He scored Mazzotta and Lukas Torres after Torres worked a walk to lead off the inning and Mazzotta singled through the right side.

With Wagner scoring runs in 13 different innings this season, the team has shown its ability to string together his and scored multiple runs in seven of those 13 innings.

The two teams return to SIUH Community Park for a rubber game on Sunday, February 23 at noon EST.