STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A week after taking down reigning NEC champion CCSU on the road, Wagner is set to host Norfolk State at Skylands Stadium in Augusta, New Jersey for its next weekend in conference play.
Originally scheduled to be played at SIUH Community Park, the series has been relocated due to ongoing renovations at the Staten Island ballpark. Wagner will play its second series at Skylands Stadium after sweeping Le Moyne last time out. Home to the Sussex County Miners, Skylands Stadium is set to host the 2026 NEC Tournament later this spring.
Full game notes can be found here.
Last Week Out
Wagner hit the road to New Britain, Connecticut last weekend, taking on the defending NEC champion CCSU and ultimately taking the series. It was a 2-1 weekend for the Seahawks, forgoing a midweek contest after taking on the Blue Devils.
The two ten-inning games on Thursday and Saturday against CCSU marked the third and fourth times, respectively, that Wagner has gone to extra innings this season. The 16-13 win in game three was the first time the Seahawks have won in 2026 after going to extras.
Senior Colin Trizuto's 8.0 innings pitched in game two tied the season high by any Wagner pitcher this season, set by Trizuto on March 20 in a win over Le Moyne. Wagner's 16 runs scored, 16 hits, 15 RBIs, two sacrifice hits and 48 at-bats in game three against CCSU each set new single-game highs for the Seahawks in their respective categories.
The Spartans also had no midweek game, fresh off a series win at home against Coppin State. Norfolk State opened the weekend with a narrow 7-6 win, then exploded offensively for a 21-2 victory to secure the series win, but then fell 9-6 in the series finale.
Senior shortstop Jaydan Israel, leading off for the Spartans in that 21-2 win, was 3-for-3 with six RBIs and a pair of doubles, one of three Norfolk State batters with three hits in the game.
The 2025 Series
Wagner opened 2025 NEC play on the road in Norfolk, Virginia, taking on the Spartans after a 3-7 non-conference start to the season. The Seahawks were able to grind out a 12-11 win in the opener in 11 innings, scoring a solo run in the top of the 11th on a sacrifice fly.
It was a 12-8 win in game two for Wagner, then the Seahawks swept the weekend with a 14-7 win in game three that required six pitchers. Three of the four arms to shut out the Spartans in that game — Christopher Collina, Justin Roitman and Nicholas Mazzotta — are back with Wagner in 2026.
Heavy Hitters
Graduate Lukas Torres comes into the series against Norfolk State batting .430 in 28 games started, second in the NEC behind Le Moyne's Jack Cannon, batting .434 currently. Junior Dylan Immel is batting .364 behind Torres, leading the team with 11 doubles, good for third in the NEC.
Juniors Diego Tavarez and Joseph Mennella are each above .300 as well, batting .354 and .330, respectively. Mennella's 29 RBIs and seven home runs lead the Wagner lineup in each category.
Norfolk State senior Justin Journette is currently holding the second highest slugging percentage in the NEC, sitting at .748 coming into the weekend. His 1.208 OPS and 11 home runs are also second in conference. He leads the NEC in strikeouts with 37.
Journette is one of four Spartans batting north of .300, currently at .350 through 28 games played with 36 hits. He is joined by Thomas Ealey (.349), Josiah Harrison (.349) and Israel (.311). Israel leads the team with 22 walks.
On the Mound
Senior righty Colin Trizuto continues to be a key piece of Wagner's weekend, most recently tying his longest outing of the season with an 8.0-inning start against CCSU, allowing just two runs on nine hits. His 123 pitches set a new career high for the senior.
Another essential part of the series win over the Blue Devils, junior Keith Davis made a pair of appearances out of the bullpen, going 3.0 innings in the opener on Thursday and allowing just one run on one hit, then returning for another 2.2 innings in the series finale where he did not allow a hit and struck out three CCSU batters.
On the other side, junior righty Parker Hampton has been the workhorse for Norfolk State, having thrown a team-leading 38.1 innings across seven starts and eight appearances. He holds a 4.70 ERA, most recently going 4.0 innings on April 3, allowing Coppin State to score a pair of runs on six hits. His biggest outing was a 9.0 inning, complete game shutout against Mercyhurst where he allowed just five hits.
Freshman Phenom
Freshman Brendan McLoughlin was named Rookie of the Week by the NEC on Tuesday, earning the recognition after a 6-for-11 week at CCSU where he scored six runs and accounted for six RBIs, hitting a double and his first career home run.
The freshman was 3-for-4 in game three as Wagner's only hitter with three hits, scoring a pair of runs and batting in three. Hit his first career home run in the fourth, a two-run homer that kicked off what became three consecutive scoring innings that brought the Seahawks back in the game. McLoughlin added an RBI single in the fifth to make it 13-8 and scored on a single from Torres later in the inning. He then singled in the ninth in a massive at-bat, then a pinch runner scored for him two batters later on the two-RBI single that tied the game at 13.
This is the first time a Wagner freshman has been named NEC Rookie of the Week since Matt Sutera won on May 6, 2025 after the Seahawks' series win over CCSU.
