Wagner College junior left-hander Matt Morris cleared a major hurdle Thursday, and the Seahawks are hoping that his successful return to the mound is a harbinger of better days.
Morris, of Matawan, N.J., threw four scoreless innings for his first collegiate victory following two injury-plagued seasons as Wagner edged St. Peter’s 1-0 in the nine-inning opener, followed by a 13-0 triumph behind junior right-hander Ryan Casey’s four-hit shutout in the seven-inning nightcap.
The sweep at the Richmond County Bank Ballpark lifted Wagner’s record to 7-14. The Seahawks have won four of their last five games.
Morris pitched in two games as a freshman before needing Tommy John elbow surgery that wiped out not only the 2011 campaign, but last season as well. Then, as he was rounding into form over the summer, a shoulder ailment sent Morris back to the trainer’s room.
“I didn’t need surgery, but I had to rehab that all winter,” he said. “It’s definitely been frustrating. I just knew if I worked hard, I’d get back to where I wanted to be and I’m almost there now.”
Morris reached his predetermined pitch count of 50 after a four-inning stint while allowing three hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
LONGEST OUTING
It was his longest outing of the season by far.
“He threw his fastball and curveball for strikes and dominated from the first pitch on,” said Wagner coach Jim Carone. “If we’re going to reach our goal of being one of the top four teams (in the Northeast Conference) and making the tournament, Morris is going to have to be one of our best pitchers.”
The Seahawks began play with a 7.21 team earned run average, the partial byproduct of a rugged early-season schedule on a pair of southern trips. They had to start from scratch while assembling a staff after the graduation of ace Ryan Van Spronsen and the loss of St. Joseph by-the-Sea product Nick Pavia to his own Tommy John surgery.
Casey, who improved to 1-3 with his shutout, is the sole returnee.
Two promising freshmen, Mike Adams and Paul Mammino, and sophomore Connor Smith have shown signs of promise lately. Sophomore closer Anthony Battaglia (Sea) earned a two-inning save behind Smith’s three shutouts innings in relief of Morris.
“We have the arms to be a pretty good pitching staff,” said Morris. “It’s just a matter of all us throwing strikes and getting on track.”
Carone, in his second season at Wagner, sounds equally confident in the staff’s potential with 28 of the team’s 32 Northeast Conference games still ahead.
“We played some really good teams early on and we got beat up a little bit,” he said. “But in the last week, we’ve been stepping it up on the mound.”
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NOTES: Wagner junior centerfielder Ian Miller was 6 for 9 in the two games. The speedy leadoff man went 4 for 5 with five RBI in the nightcap, when the Seahawks posted a season-high 13 runs and 19 hits ... Wagner shortstop Shaun Flynn had five hits on the day ... Wagner scratched out a third-inning run off Zack Hopf in the opener as Chris Smith’s safety squeeze bunt scored Tommy Mazurkiewicz from third ... The Seahawks, who took a 2-2 record into their NEC bye week, host the Peacocks in the series finale Saturday at 1 p.m. ... St. Peter’s dropped to 7-14.