Staten Island, NY — Wagner won the opener in its Northeast Conference series on Thursday over the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks 8-5 with a big performance from three pitchers.
Starter Jake Toporek set the tone early — a reliable arm to go at least six innings, the senior went 6.0 and allowed three runs. The Hawks were seeing the ball well and had seven hits off Toporek, but he struck out eight batters and induced eight fly outs to keep UMES largely off the board. Those eight strikeouts tie Toporek's season-high eight strikeouts from two weeks ago in a 10-3 win over Le Moyne.
From there, graduate Vincent Corso went a season-long 2.1 innings in relief and allowed two runs, adding a pair of strikeouts to the Wagner staff's total. Junior Jason Masick threw the final 0.2 of the game and struck out one of the three batters he faced to wrap up the game with 11 total strikeouts for the Seahawks.
Matching that effort at the plate, Wagner put up its lead early. In a six-run first inning, the Seahawks scored its first six runs on five hits. It was two doubles, three singles, a walk and a hit-by-pitch on senior Bryce Phelps.
Graduate Lukas Torres opened the game with a double, then a single for junior Nicholas Mazzotta and a walk to sophomore Diego Tavarez loaded the bases for Joseph Mennella. The sophomore sent a fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly, then Phelps was hit to load the bases again.
Graduate Xavier Ulrich added an RBI-single of his own, then sophomore Connor Roche added another before senior Mateo Matthews had a bases-clearing double that scored all three runners.
That rough series chased the Hawks' starter from the game, but freshman Hunter Allen entered the game and was quite effective for his 6.2 innings pitched. He allowed eight hits but just two runs, inducing 12 groundouts.
Wagner added one run in the third on an RBI-double from Matthews, then added its eighth and final run in the fourth on a sacrifice bunt from Tavarez.
Seven Seahawks finished the game with a hit. Torres and Mazzotta each had a pair as the one and two hitters. Tavarez and Mennella did not record a hit, but each added an RBI on a sacrifice. Matthews had the biggest day, 3-of-4 with four RBIs in his line.
Next up, Wagner and UMES are back at SIUH Community Park for a Friday, April 18 matchup with a noon first pitch. The Seahawks look to win a fifth-consecutive NEC series while UMES looks to even the series.
