Baseball Falls to Wagner, 8-5, at NIA Shootout
2/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Wagner Colleges Joseph Malfettano hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning, giving the Seahwaks an 8-5 victory over the Kent State University baseball team in the second round of the N.I.A. Shootout at Winthrop University in Rock Hill.
Kent State (2-3), which had rallied from a 5-0 deficit to tie the game, had its two-game winning streak snapped while Wagner (1-1) picked up its first win of the year.
Wagner took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, stringing together four straight singles. The Seahawks added another run in the fourth and two in the fifth to build a 5-0 advantage.
A four-run fifth inning by Kent State got the Golden Flashes back in the game. The big blow in the inning was a two-run triple by junior OF Kurt Eichorn (Galion, Ohio/Lexington). Junior 2B Drew Saylor (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth/Cincinnati) and sophomore SS Emmanuel Burriss (Washington, D.C./Wilson) each had RBI singles in the inning.
The Golden Flashes then tied the game the following inning on a squeeze play with junior OF Joe Tucker (Canton, Ohio/Central Catholic) dropping a bunt between third base and the mound, scoring senior Eric Holick (Westlake, Ohio/Westlake).
Sean Ferguson led off the eighth with a single and two hitters later, Malfettano took KSU closer Andrew Davis (Chillicothe, Ohio/Zanes Trace) over the left field fence with two outs to put the Seahawks back on top. The Seahawks added an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI single by Mike Picarello.
Neither starter factored in the decision. KSU freshman Chris Carpenter (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) allowed five runs on 11 hits in 4.1 innings while Wagners Mike McTamney, who did not walk a batter and held the Flashes in check through the first four innings, surrendered four runs- three earned- on six hits in five innings, striking out six.
Sophomore Jason Seelman (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) took the loss out of the bullpen, allowing one run on two hits in three innings.
Davis and sophomore catcher Will Vazquez (Berea, Ohio/Berea) had two hits each for KSU.
Joseph DeGeronimo had three hits for Wagner. John Crowley, who surrendered the tying run in the sixth, picked up the win. Jon Polonitza earned the save.
The Golden Flashes wrap up their three-day trip to Rock Hill on Sunday, Feb. 27, when the face host Winthrop in the final game of the N.I.A. Shootout at 2:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES: Saylor has a hit and a run scored in every game this seasonâ?¦ Eichorns triple was the first of his careerâ?¦ Burriss reach base three times (single, 2 HBP)â?¦ Kent State batters were hit by a pitch four times.
