STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.— The LIU Brooklyn baseball team opened its weekend series against Wagner College with a 14-8 victory at Richmond County Ballpark. All nine batters in the lineup contributed a hit as the Blackbirds registered 16 hits against the Seahawks for the team's third straight game with double-digit hits.

Five batters finished with multi-hit games for LIU as seniors Brock Hallum and Joe Mercadante led the way with three hits each. Seniors Alex Briggs and Andrew Smith along with sophomore Colin Adams picked up a pair of hits. The Blackbirds received multi-RBI games from junior Rob Griswold, Adams and Smith. Eight batters in the lineup registered a run scored for the Blackbirds including a career-high four runs scored from Hallum.

LIU grabbed three runs in the opening play capitalizing on the Seahawks defensive miscues. With two outs and a pair of runners on, Hallum lifted a shallow flyball into left field that was dropped by the shortstop that allowed Griswold to score from second base. LIU continued the inning as Smith roped a two-run single into left field to make it 3-0.

Wagner responded with a RBI sacrifice fly and RBI double in the bottom half of the inning to bring the score to 3-2.

LIU opened the top of the second inning with Adams reaching on a walk and senior Luiny Monegro picking up a single to third base. After a sacrfice bunt by Mercadante advanced both runners, Griswold went opposite field with a two-run double down the right field line to push the LIU lead to 5-2.

The Blackbirds continued to take advantage early in the third as Hallum opened the frame with a singled followed by a walk to Smith for a pair of runners on. A sacrifice bunt by junior Tim Bechtold pushed both runners into scoring postion. Adams then delivered a sacrifice fly to right field to push the lead to 6-2.

LIU registered another run in the top of the fourth inning on a two-out single from Briggs to jump ahead 7-2.

After being held off the scoreboard the last two frames, Wagner used a five-run bottom of the fourth on seven hits to tie the game up at seven-all.

The Blackbirds responded in the next half inning as Smith opened with a single and Bechtold reached on an error at third that pushed both runners to second and third. Adams then lined the 3-2 offering into left field to give LIU back the lead. Bechtold would later score on a wild pitch for the 9-7 favor.

LIU added to its lead in the top half of the eighth inning, capitalizing on its first two runs of the frame on a pair of Wagner errors. Senior Gregory Vaughn Jr. added a two RBI single with two outs to push the score to 13-7. The Blackbirds final run came in the ninth inning on the Seahawks ninth error of the ball game.  Wagner capped the scoring at 14-8 with a two-out triple in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Freshman Alec Huertas pitched the first three and a third innings for the Blackbirds. Senior Zach Pederson pitched a standout five and two thirds of relief to close out the game for the Blackbirds. The right-hander yielded just one run on two hits while striking out five for his third win of the season.

UP NEXT

The Blackbirds continue the weekend series against the Seahawks with a 1:00 p.m. start from Richmond County Ballpark.