Emmitsburg, Md. (April 25, 2008)--Sophomore right hander Max Brittenham (Stamford, Conn./St. Luke's) tossed a complete game while Josh Vittek (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) belted his league-leading 12th home run to pace Mount St. Mary's to a 5-1 win over Wagner in the opening game of a four-game series on Friday afternoon at Straw Family Stadium on campus. The win moved the Mount (11-23, 7-5 NEC) past Wagner into third place in the Northeast Conference standings.

Brittenham and Wagner pitcher Kyle Morrison sailed through the first four innings in a scoreless deadlock. The Seahawks (16-20, 7-6 NEC) broke through in the top of the fifth inning. Joe Conforti, Jon Lucas and Kevin Payne led off the frame with consecutive singles to load the bases with no outs. Brittenham buckled down, however, as he got a double-play that allowed Conforti to score and a strikeout to get out of the jam.

The Mount used a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth to grab the lead. With runners on first and second with two outs, Drew Counselman (Sykesville, Md./Liberty) roped a line-drive double off the left-center fence to drive home two runs to give the Mount the lead. It was Counselman's NEC-leading 16th two-base hit of the season. Vittek followed with a long home run to left center to plate two runs for a 4-1 advantage. It was Vittek's 12th home run of the season and his ninth over the Mount's past 13 contests.

The Mount added another run in the bottom of the seventh when Vittek doubled down the right-field line to open the inning and scored when Wagner threw the ball away as he was trying to advance to third on a groundout.

Brittenham had a solid start for the Mount, allowing six hits while striking out five with no walks in his second complete game of the year. Vittek finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a double, a home run and two RBI to pace the Mount offense while freshman Kyle Kane was 2-for-4 to lift his average to a team-high .380.

Jon Lucas paced Wagner with a pair of hits while Morrison allowed four runs (zero earned) in six innings for the Seahawks.

The teams return to action tomorrow with a doubleheader at Straw Family Stadium on campus. The first game will start at 11:00 a.m.

Game Notes...The Mount has now won seven straight games vs. Wagner...Wagner leads the all-time series, 30-22...Vittek is three hits shy of becoming the Mount's all-time leader in hits.