Washington, DC – Stockton University (2-0) scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure a 9-5 victory over #15 Salve Regina (1-1) on Saturday afternoon. Nick Avagnano (Paramus/Paramus) continued his hot start with three hits and three RBI to lead the Ospreys. The Ospreys are playing in the Matt Kurkjian ALS Awareness Invitational hosted by Catholic University for three games over the weekend. The Seahwaks are nationally ranked by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).

Stockton started strong with a pair of runs in the second inning. RBI by Avagnano and Evan Bresnen (Allentown/Steinert) gave the Ospreys a 2-0 lead. After the Ospreys plated two more runs in the fourth frame, the Seahawks knotted the game at 4-4 with two runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

Stockton took another brief lead in the bottom of the seventh when freshman Russell Halvorsen (Howell/Howell) blasted his first career home run for a 5-4 advantage. Once again Salve Regina knotted the score in their half of the eighth, setting up the late Stockton rally in the bottom of the stanza.

Tony Gatti (Howell/Howell) singled, Tucker Elder (Wall/Wall) walked and both advanced on a wild pitch. Max Kaplan (Wall/Wall) scored Gatti and Avagnano followed with an RBI single to score Elder for a 7-5 lead. Kaplan would score later on a passed ball, before Avagnano would plate the final run on a wild pitch to make it 9-5.

Kyle Cipolla (Westwood/Westwood) tossed a scoreless ninth inning to nail down the win for Dylan Sakele (Rumson/Rumson-Fair Haven). Robbie Ford (Green Twp./Newton) tossed the first four innings before giving way to Zack McCabe (Jackson/Jackson Memorial) who threw three innings of shutout baseball to hold down the Seahawks.

Gavin Malave (Mountainside/Governor Livingston) and Elder rapped two hits each with Elder scoring three times and Kaplan and Avagnano scoring twice each.

Stockton will finish the Invitational tomorrow when the Ospreys will take on host Catholic University. The first pitch is set for 2:30 pm.