Staten Island, NY — Coming off a midweek loss at Seton Hall, the Seahawks head south again to take on Winthrop in their third series of the season.
Wagner sits at 3-4 on the season, coming off its first series win of the season at home against Merrimack before that loss to the Pirates in the first midweek game of 2025.
Winthrop heads into the series with a 4-4 record, with a series sweep of Merrimack and midweek losses to South Carolina and Clemson.
State of the Seahawks
Senior right-hander Connor Hayden holds a 0.00 ERA through two starts this season with 9.0 innings pitched, eight strikeouts and a 0.56 WHIP. Junior righty Jason Masick has pitched 3.0 innings in relief and holds a 1.67 ERA with five strikeouts.
At the plate, the Seahawks have logged double-digit hits in four of seven games and senior outfielder Bryce Phelps leads the Wagner hitters with a .458 average, going 11-of-24 through seven games. Phelps is one of three Seahawks batting above .300 this season.
Junior infielder Nicholas Mazzotta and senior outfielder Lukas Torres, batting .292 and .261 respectively, have both worked a .452 OBP. Mazzotta has reached base in each of Wagner's seven games.
The Seahawks have won two games in dramatic fashion, with sophomore Diego Tavarez walking off the season opener with a two-run home run and senior Xavier Ulrich walking off the series against Merrimack.
Scouting the Eagles
The two teams do have a common opponent, with Winthrop opening up its season hosting Merrimack.
Similar to what the Seahawks experienced in South Carolina against Indiana State, the schedule for the Eagles' series was moved around due to inclement weather. Ultimately, Winthrop and Merrimack played a doubleheader on February 14 and pushed their third game from February 15 to February 16.
In those two games, Winthrop won 16-4 and 8-0, then won 8-3 after the day off. In the sweep, the Eagles hit for a .390 average, batting .553 in game two with three home runs.
In Winthrop's second series of the season, the Eagles went 1-2 against Villanova, scoring three and four runs in the first two losses, respectively, before having a massive day at the plate for a 17-3 win in game three. The Eagles are coming off of a mid-week, run-rule loss to Clemson after losing to the Tigers 20-7.
Coming into the series against Wagner, the Eagles have a .308 batting average and are led by Jaylen Hernandez. The sophomore is batting .394 through eight games with a .474 OBP. He is one of five Eagles batting above .300 and the team is 3-0 in games with double-digit hits.
Starting pitcher Connor Harris is Friday's anticipated started for the Eagles, coming into the game with a 1-0 record. He has 11.0 innings pitched through two games started, working a 3.27 ERA and a .91 WHIP. Reliever Harrison Wilson has gone 5.1 innings in three appearances for a 1.69 ERA.
Matchup History
Wagner and Winthrop are no strangers, but the two programs have not faced off in over a decade. The last meeting was February 26, 2011, when the Seahawks won 8-5. The two have played 24 games prior to this weekend's series, with all of the games played at Winthrop.
The Eagles lead the series with a 20-4 all-time record.
Game Information
The series opens on Friday, February 28 with a 3 p.m. EST game, then game two will be played March 1 at 2 p.m. EST. Game three will air on ESPN+ with a 1 p.m. EST start.
