Staten Island, NY — Wagner split its doubleheader with LIU on Friday to even out the season's second Northeast Conference series.
LIU won game one 6-4 after a two-run ninth inning allowed the Sharks to sneak by the Seahawks, when Wagner took game two in a 3-2 win backed by stellar pitching.
Game 1
The offense took center stage in game one and Wagner's three lead-off hitters remained steady. Senior lead-off man Lukas Torres went 2-of-5 with an RBI, junior Nicholas Mazzotta went 2-of-5 with a run scored and sophomore Diego Tavarez went 1-of-4 with a walk.
Graduate senior Xavier Ulrich has now logged multi-hit games in back-to-back weekends, going 2-of-5 in game one with a run and an RBI. Senior Bryce Phelps was the other Seahawk who had a multi-hit game, going 3-of-5 for two runs and an RBI.
The Seahawk batters were active and scored runs in the second, third and fifth innings, but LIU pitcher RJ Latkowski's scoreless relief outing kept the team off the scoreboard through the game's final four frames. Wagner finished with four runs on 12 hits.
Senior Connor Hayden got the start on the mound in game one, allowing six hits and four runs in 2.2 innings pitched before handing the ball off to left-handed Heitaro Hayashi.
Hayashi went 4.1 innings and did not give up any hits to the Sharks, facing 15 batters and walking just one. This was Hayashi's second hitless outing after he went 1.2 hitless innings on March 9 at Norfolk State. It is also five outs over Hayashi's longest outing of the season, a 2.2-inning appearance in the March 7 game at Norfolk State.
Game 2
Game two was a lower-scoring affair, but no less exciting considering starting pitcher Jake Toporek's outing.
The senior righty threw 7.0 innings, allowing just one run on two hits and striking out seven of the 24 batters he faced. Nine Sharks fouled out and Toporek induced five groundouts.
In the top of the seventh, Toporek issued a walk with two outs and it seemed as though his day might end but after a brief mound visit, he remained in the game and struck out LIU's Mason Breton to end his outing.
Lefty Keith Davis entered the game in relief and threw one inning where one run scored, but Davis drew soft contact to log his final two ours with the tying run sitting at third.
At the plate, Torres logged three more hits and an RBI in game two, batting .555 on Saturday. Phelps, senior Mateo Matthews and freshman Matt Sutera each added a hit of their own. Sutera's hit started the Seahawks' scoring and was part of the chain of hits that allowed Wagner to win the game.
Up to bat in the bottom of the second with one out, Sutera sent a ball to deep right field that scored Phelps and Roche. The double had Sutera in scoring position and he was able to touch home on an RBI single through the left side from Torres.
The series finale will be played Saturday, March 15 at SIUH Community Park at 7 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on NEC Front Row.
