New
York, N.Y. (April 24, 2009)—Wagner
scored six times in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally for an
11-9 victory over Mount St. Mary's in Northeast Conference baseball
action at Richmond County Bank Ballpark on Friday.
The
Mount (17-18, 9-4 NEC) jumped to a 9-2 lead after six innings of
play before the Seahawks (18-15, 7-6 NEC) rallied for the
win.
Tommy
Flynn opened the game for the Mount with a triple and scored on a
Buddy Fields infield hit to give the Mountaineers the early 1-0
advantage.
Shane
Eyler opened the second with his team-leading 11th home
run of the year while Flynn added an RBI single in the frame for a
3-0 Mount lead. Wagner got
back in the game on a Brian Martutartus two-run double in the
bottom of the second.
Tony
Quaranta chipped in an RBI single in the fourth and the Mount also
scored on an error in the inning to take a 5-2 advantage. The Mount
added two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a
commanding 9-2 lead.
In
the fifth, Kyle Kane singled ahead of a base hit by Eyler that
scored Kane on a Wagner error. Matt Staso added a sacrifice fly for a
7-2 lead. In the sixth,
Jacob Darr hit a two-run double to give the Mount the 9-2
lead.
Wagner
started its rally with a Matt Logan two-run homer in the
seventh. Vin Avella singled
home a run in the eighth to cut the Mount lead to four heading into
the final inning.
In
the decisive ninth inning, Logan doubled and a Mount error put two
runners on base with no outs. Closer Mike Matta then got a strikeout
and a groundout to put runners on second and third with two
outs. Joe Conforti doubled
home two runs to cut the deficit to 9-7 before Damian Csakai
singled home Conforti to cut the lead to one.
Jared
Gruccio was then hit by a pitch, setting up Avella, who cracked his
11th home of the year, a three-run walk-off shot that
gave Wagner the 11-9 victory.
Flynn
went 3-for-5 with two runs scored to pace the Mount offense while
Fields, Eyler and Quaranta each had a pair of hits in the
loss.
Starter
Max Brittenham allowed five runs with five strikeouts in seven
innings of work. Matta
(3-1) took the loss, allowing six unearned runs with three
strikeouts in 1.2 innings.
Avella
went 2-for-4 with four RBI to pace Wagner while Chris Drecshel and
Martutartus added three hits each in the win.
The
teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow with the first game
starting at 7 pm.
