Norfolk, Va — Wagner had its highest offensive output in its 14-7 game three win over Norfolk State to sweep the weekend series.
With the win, Wagner is 6-7 this season and jumps out to a 3-0 lead in Northeast Conference play.
The Seahawks had an explosive offensive weekend, combining for the team's most runs through three games this season and putting up a season-high 12 runs in game one before replacing that number in game three with 14 runs.
Every hitter in the Seahawks' starting lineup got on base at least once. Seven batters had a hit and six of those seven had multiple hits.
Sophomore Joseph Mennella launched his second home run of the weekend, sending a ball out of right field in the fifth inning. He finished the day with two hits in six at bats, with two runs scored and an RBI. He is batting .214 this season. Centerfielder Lukas Torres, shortstop Nicholas Mazzotta, first baseman Mateo Matthrews, right fielder Bryce Phelps and second baseman Matt Sutera were the other Seahawks to log multiple hits.
Phelps continues to lead the Wagner batters with his .467 average through 13 games.
The Wagner pitching staff walked just five batters, while the Seahawk batters worked 11 walks and struck out just four times.
Starting pitcher Colin Trizuto went 2.0 innings and gave up the Spartans' first six runs on eight hits. From there, sophomore Christopher Collina went the next 2.0, allowing no runs and just one hit.
Lefty junior Heitaro Hayashi entered the game in the top of the fifth, throwing 1.2 hitless innings to continue holding Norfolk State off the board while the Wagner offense worked. He earned the win on Sunday, now sitting with a 1-1 record through 8.2 innings of work in five appearances.
Senior Michael Cunningham relieved Hayashi, going 1.1 innings and one run on four his for the Spartans' final run of the game. Junior Justin Roitman through 1.0 hitless after that, then junior two-way man Mazzotta took the mound after starting the game at shortstop and threw a scoreless inning to end the game. Mazzotta struck out three of the six batters he faced.
It was a defensive effort to hold off Norfolk State, with the Spartan hitters logging 14 hits and stranding 10 runners.
Next up, the Seahawks will travel to Piscataway, New Jersey for a Wednesday night matchup against Rutgers. That game will begin at 3 p.m. EST. From there, Wagner returns to SIUH Community Park for an NEC series against LIU starting Friday, March 14.
