Teaneck, NJ — Wagner split its Saturday doubleheader at FDU, winning the opener 20-4 before the Knights took game two 13-5 to end the day.
Game 1
The Seahawks got off to an explosive start, putting up eight runs in the first inning of the day with two outs, then tacking on seven more in the third. The team finished with 17 hits for those 20 runs, working 10 walks.
Sophomore Joseph Mennella had the biggest day, launching a two-run home run in the first to get Wagner on the board before adding a grand slam in the third to score four more. The Seahawks put up seven runs on seven hits in the third.
Senior starting pitcher Jake Toporek got Wagner off to a strong start through the bottom of each inning, logging a 5.2-inning outing where he allowed just two runs on three hits, striking out five Knights. He takes home the win to hang on to a perfect 7-0 record.
All nine Seahawks in the starting lineup ended with a hit, with sophomores Diego Tavarez and Connor Roche leading the way at 3-of-4. Tavarez scored two runs, added two RBIs and walked twice. Roche had two RBIs and two runs scored as well, with one walk. Both doubled in the first inning, with Tavarez landing a two-out double for the first hit of the game, then closed out the inning with a two-RBI double to give Wagner that 8-0 lead.
Seniors Mateo Matthews and Bryce Phelps were the other Wagner batters with a multi-hit game — Matthews was 2-of-3 with five RBIs and two runs scored. Phelps was 2-of-3 with three runs scored, an RBI and a walk.
Matthews homered in the third, leading off the big inning with a two-run shot to centerfield to make it a 10-0 lead, then the Mennella grand slam made it 14-0 before an RBI single from Roche put the lead at 15-0.
The Seahawks tacked on another run in the fifth when a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Matthews pushed a run across, then Wagner added two more on back-to-back sacrifice plays from Phelps and graduate Xavier Ulrich to make it an 18-0 lead.
FDU was finally able to get on the board with a two-run home run to centerfield in the sixth, which marked the end of the day for Toporek, and added another on a solo shot off senior Zach Gorman. Answering in the seventh, an RBI single from sophomore Leo Doyle made it 19-3 Wagner, then junior Nicholas Mazzotta added another sacrifice to make it a 20-3 lead.
Game 2
The Knights gave the Seahawks a taste of their own medicine in game two, putting up eight runs through the first two frames before Wagner was able to answer.
It was a three-run third, followed by a single run in the fourth, that made up most of Wagner's offense, which just was not enough to make up for the big offensive start from FDU.
Wagner finished with those five runs on eight hits, working six walks from the Knights' pitching staff but leaving nine runners stranded.
Junior pitchers Colin Trizuto and Justin Roitman took more of the damage, each ending their day with four runs. Roitman struck out six FDU batters across what was a 4.2-inning outing. Freshman Will Grayson had a strong outing in relief, a one-hit scoreless frame as the only Wagner pitcher to keep the hot-hitting Knights off the board in game two.
In the third, it was an RBI double from Phelps, an RBI single from Roche and another RBI double from freshman Matt Sutera to make it an 8-3 lead for the Knights.
Mazzotta added a single run in the fourth with a solo shot that marked his first home run as a Seahawk. Another solo homer from Tavarez in the ninth marked the end of the scoring for Wagner.
The Seahawks look to take the series on Sunday in a 1 p.m. EST game.
