STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The Saint Peter's baseball team dropped a road game to Wagner by three runs, 9-12, at SIUH Community Park on Tuesday night.
The Peacocks (4-37, 0-21 MAAC) had a victory in their sights, holding a four-run lead with three innings to go, but it was the Seahawks (22-19, 17-7 NEC) who came out on top after they scored a combined seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Joey Dwyer put together a solid performance for Saint Peter's, accumulating two hits and three RBIs in his four at-bats. He helped get the Peacocks going early on, accounting for the first three runs scored.
Alex Manent led the team with four RBIs, highlighted by his two-run homer in the fifth inning.
Luke Schwartz and
Bobby Lavely each also recorded two hits. Lavely extended his hit streak to five games, while Schwartz has now notched a hit in five of his last six.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Peacocks started the game hot, taking a commanding 4-0 lead after the top of the third. With the bases loaded in the first inning, Dwyer hit a ball to left field to bring
Steve Polizzi and
RJ Azarieh home. Similarly, in the third, Dwyer hit another single down the left field line that allowed another run by Azarieh. On the next play, Manent reached first on a fielder's choice while Polizzi crossed home plate for the second time.
It was in the bottom of the third inning when Wagner started to have success in the square.
Logan Wenzel gave up his first run of the day after a runner on third advanced. After a Saint Peter's pitching change, the Peacocks went on to allow four more runs as the Seahawks took their first lead of the game, 5-4.
Manent put the Peacocks back on top in the fifth inning with a two-run home run that made it a 6-5 ballgame. The Wagner pitcher went through two of the next three Saint Peter's batters to get out of the inning. The score stayed the same until SPU extended its lead to four runs, 9-5 in the top of the sixth. A walk with the bases loaded started the scoring run, before Schwartz hit a two-RBI single later in the inning.
Zaine Toneske managed to keep the Seahawks at five runs after the bottom of the sixth inning, but he eventually allowed two scores in the seventh. The Peacocks went into the eighth inning looking to build on their 9-7 lead, but Wagner recorded three groundouts for a quick turnaround. The Seahawks went on to blow the lid open in the bottom half of the inning, scoring five runs and regaining their lead.
The Peacocks had an opportunity to tie the game with a man on first and second while trailing, 9-12, but Wagner brought in a different pitcher to finish the job with back-to-back strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Peacocks take a road trip to Easton, Pa. to play Lafayette on Wednesday, April 29, at 3 p.m. ET.
