Wappingers Falls, NY — Facing a CCSU team that had a late offensive push, No. 2 Wagner was unable to overcome the deficit and fell 8-3 in the opening round of the Northeast Conference Tournament.

Wagner scored in the third to tie the game at 1-1 then took a 3-1 lead with a pair of runs in the fourth, but the Blue Devils scored three runs in both the sixth and eighth before adding a single run in the ninth to take the win.

Senior starter Jake Toporek took his first loss of the season, going 5.2 innings, striking out three and giving up four runs before junior Justin Roitman entered in relief. Roitman went 1.2 innings and allowed three runs as the CCSU bats heated up.

Senior Sam Bonilla closed the game out with 1.2 innings pitched, one run allowed and two strikeouts. Blue Devils' starter Vincent Borghese held the Wagner batters to just three runs across his 6.1 innings pitched, then Wyatt Cameron's 2.2 scoreless innings shut the door on any potential comebacks.

Wagner finished with 11 hits to show for its three runs, but the hitting was not contagious like it typically is. Graduate Lukas Torres was 3-of-5 in the leadoff spot with an RBI, followed by junior Nicholas Mazzotta batting 2-of-5 with an RBI in the two hole. Senior Bryce Phelps, batting fifth, was 2-of-4 with a run scored and freshman Matt Sutera was 3-of-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Torres, Mazzotta and Sutera each had a double.

The Blue Devils were not giving away free passes — sophomore Joseph Mennella and senior Mateo Matthews worked the only two walks for the Seahawks. Matthews was the only other Wagner batters to log a hit, finishing 1-of-3.

In the third, it was an RBI single from Mazzotta to score Sutera and tie the game at 1-1, then an RBI single from Sutera in the fourth scored Phelps to give Wagner the 2-1 lead. Torres added an RBI single of his own to scored Matthews and push the lead to 3-1, but that was the last time the Seahawks would score, closing out the game without scoring in the final five frames.

With the loss, the Seahawks drop to the early game on Saturday, taking on No. 4 Stonehill in a must-win game at 11 a.m. EST. The winning team will advance to play the loser of the 3 p.m. EST game between No. 3 CCSU and No. 1 LIU. That game between the morning's winner and the afternoon's loser will be played at 7 p.m. EST to round out Saturday's trio of games.