Staten Island, NY — Wagner took its second loss of the week in a 6-4, extra-innings loss to Fordham on Wednesday night.
It took 11 innings for the Rams to put the win away, but the Seahawks were unable to muster any offense late in the game. It was a 4-3 game going into the ninth after each team put up a single run in the eighth, but Fordham pushed a run across to force extras and scored two in the eleventh to put away the win.
It was another game where the Seahawks put runners on base, but were unable to score off them. Wagner tallied 12 hits and four walks, leaving 14 runners stranded.
Both pitching staffs were finding the zone, with Wagner's pitchers walking five and Fordham's pitchers walking those four Seahawks.
Sophomore Leo Doyle had a big day in his first start this season after appearing in nine games, going 2-of-5 while hitting ninth and taking over centerfield with senior Lukas Torres sliding over into left.
Torres accounted for half of Wagner's runs on Wednesday, going 1-of-6 with two RBIs. His lone his was a two-RBI double down the left field line in the seventh, scoring Doyle and freshman Matt Sutera. Those were the pair of runs that put Wagner ahead with a 3-2 lead.
Sophomore Connor Roche batted in the Seahawks' other two runs, first with an RBI double in the fourth to score Wagner's first run of the game, then adding an RBI single in the eighth to push the lead to 4-3.
Junior Nicholas Mazzotta started the game at shortstop, going 1-of-3 at the plate with a pair of walks, then entered the game to pitch in the ninth. The one run he allowed meant the junior was unable to record a third-straight save and the game went to extras. Mazzotta has appeared in each of Wagner's 24 games and holds a .298 batting average.
Fordham was able to put up two runs on two hits through two extra innings, while Wagner was able to get three runners on but could not push them across.
For the pitching staff, the game got off to a solid start. Freshman Frankie Nardo, in his second start of the season, went 3.0 innings and gave up just one run on three hits, striking out four. Through 6.1 innings of work in five total appearances, Nardo has given up just three runs and holds a 1.26 WHIP.
Sophomore Keith Davis went a third-straight scoreless relief outing after throwing the seventh, appearing in games against Seton Hall, Coppin State and Fordham and allowing just one hit across those 3.1 innings of work. Going back to a two-inning appearance against Norfolk State on March 8, Davis has allowed four hits and just one run through those 7.1 innings pitched.
Next up, Wagner hosts Stonehill for a Northeast Conference series. The opener on Friday, March 28 will begin at 3 p.m. EST. The Skyhawks are 6-14 this season and 5-1 in the NEC with series wins over Norfolk State and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
