BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Wagner softball team lost the final game of the LIU series on Wednesday, dropping the contest 5-4.
The Sharks opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. After loading the bases with two hit batsmen and a fielding error, an RBI-single moved each runner up a base and LIU took a 1-0 lead.
Wagner erased the deficit and then some in the very next inning, with their own bases-loaded situation. This time, senior shortstop
Payton Janicki singled up middle and plated two runs. The Seahawks had the 2-1 lead, then junior second baseman
Leilani Gonzales put the ball in the exact same spot, collecting an RBI and giving the Seahawks a 3-1 lead.
Wagner's defense looked set to preserve that lead in the bottom of the inning, after two quick strikeouts. But a hit-by-pitch and an infield single extended the frame for the Sharks, and they retook the lead with a three-run home run down the left field line.
Both defenses kept their opponents off the board for the next three innings, including a 1-2-3 inning from starting pitcher
Karson Zavala, but the Sharks added an insurance run in the sixth. Facing a new pitcher, LIU sent a solo home run over the center field wall to extend their lead to 5-3.
The Seahawks did not go quietly in the top of the seventh. After a leadoff single from senior first baseman
Geanice Morales, Janicki came up with two outs and brought Morales home with an RBI-double. It was Janicki's third RBI of the game, but the Seahawks were not able to bring the tying run home, and they lost 5-4.
Janicki finished the series with three hits and four RBIs, while Morales reached base seven times in 13 plate appearances.
The Seahawks will return to the diamond on Saturday, April 11, when they play a road doubleheader against Le Moyne. The first game will start at 1 p.m., and the second game will start at approximately 3 p.m.
