The Maritime College baseball team picked up their fifth and six consecutive victories on Monday afternoon as they opened up their Skyline Conference campaign with a doubleheader sweep of Mount Saint Mary. A.J. Ammirati (Queens, N.Y./Construction) picked up his 10th career win in the opener as the senior pitcher led the Privateers to a 5-1 win, and in the second game Maritime exploded on offense and completed the sweep with a 16-3 victory.

The Privateers got on the board early in the opening game after a four-run rally in the first inning. Matt Eng (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) reached first safely to lead off the game and then stole second base to put himself in scoring position. Travis Zurita (Ozone Park, N.Y./Poly Prep) then followed it up by ripping a single to right field to score Eng from second. Phil Russo (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) kept the rally going with a single and then Eric Wenig (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) doubled to right center to drive in Zurita. After Shane Sullivan (Stewart Manor, N.Y./Chaminade) brought Russo home with a ground-out, Adam Mosca (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) capped off the big first inning with a single up the middle that scored Wenig.

Maritime added one more run in the bottom of the second inning with another clutch hit from Wenig. Ammirati got all the run support he needed in the first two innings and continued to shut down the Knights offense. The senior pitcher pounded the strike zone for seven innings and only allowed four hits and one run. Fellow senior Alex Poliwoda (Southold, N.Y./Southold) entered the game in the eighth inning and picked up a two-inning save after only allowing one hit.

The Privateers weren't able to build on the defensive momentum from the opening game as Mount Saint Mary opened up the second game with a three-run first inning. However, Maritime's offense responded with arguably its best performance of the season by posting eight runs in the bottom half of the first. 

Once again, it was Eng and Zurita teaming up to start the rally as Eng led off with a single and aggressive base-running. The sophomore center fielder drove in Eng with a hard-hit ball up the middle on the following play. Wenig and Sullivan tied the game at three with RBI singles, and set up a bases loaded situation for Nick McTighe (Merrick, N.Y./Holy Trinity). The sophomore third baseman blasted a ball deep to the left-center that bounced off the wall and scored two runs. Two batters later, Ryan Rockhill (Eastchester, NY/Tuckahoe) added a double of his own that drove in two more runs. After a sacrifice fly from Eng, the Privateers had stolen the momentum from Mount Saint Mary and went into the second inning with an 8-3 lead. 

With a big lead behind him, junior Travis Bruinsma (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) settled in on the mound and shut down the Knights offense. Leading 10-3 in the bottom of the third inning, Maritime put together another big rally and scored five more runs. Rockhill and Eng highlighted the inning at the plate as they both picked up RBI hits. Bruinsma and the defense went on to solidify the win for the Privateers by going 1, 2, 3 in the fourth, fifth, and sixth inning.

Maritime will look to make it seven-straight wins on Thursday when they travel to Rutgers-Newark at 3:30 p.m. and then they will return to Skyline Conference action on Saturday and Sunday with doubleheaders against St. Joseph's Brooklyn and Mount Saint Vincent, respectively. Check out some highlights from the game and the post-game press conference with head coach Charlie Barbieri, Ammirati, and Wenig below.