Baseball Falls, 4-0, To Wagner

(boxscore)

4/17/05 -- Long Island University dropped the finale of its three-game Northeast Conference series today, 4-0 against Wagner at LIU Field.

The Seahawks (15-16, 7-6 NEC) opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning. Matt Mastrianni (Ringoes, N.J.) laced a leadoff double down the left-field line and went to third on a groundout by Nick Papa (Freehold, N.J.). He scored when Ed Sudol (Wallington, N.J.) singled up the middle for a 1-0 lead.

Wagner added a pair in the second for a 3-0 cushion. Gene Ronkiewicz (Rahway, N.J.) was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on an RBI double by Joseph Malfettano (Toms River, N.J.). Two batters later, Mastrianni doubled down the right-field line to score Malfettano.

Ronkiewicz singled up the middle in the eighth inning to score Kane Furst (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) on a play in which freshman center fielder Bryan Burke (Lindenhurst, N.J.) threw out Kris Urbano (Freehold Twsp. N.J.) at the plate. It was Burke’s fifth outfield assist of the season.

Mike Bujalkowski (St. Joes’s, N.J.) pitched a gem for the Seahawks, striking out eight and permitting just five hits and two walks. He faced just five batters above the minimum to move to 2-3. Malfettano clubbed three hits and Mastrianni added a pair for Wagner, which swept the three-game series.

Carmel, N.Y. sophomore Ryan Ekberg (1-4) struck four for the Blackbirds (6-15, 3-8), but allowed three runs and five hits over five innings.

Sophomore Marcus Wynn (Plainfield, N.J.) singled in the third inning for LIU to extend his career-best hitting streak to 10 games. He is batting .366 (15-for-41) during that span.

LIU closes its four-game homestand Tuesday against Saint Peter’s, beginning at 3:00 pm.