The Maritime College baseball team capped off another Skyline Conference weekend with a sweep of Yeshiva University on Sunday afternoon. The Privateers hit five home runs in the doubleheader, two from Joe Scerra (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) and three from Eric Wenig (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley), as they won by scores of 12-2 and 11-2 to improve to 10-4 in Skyline play and 19-13 overall.

In the opening game of the series, freshman pitcher Ryan Ragone (Yonkers, NY/Stepinac) got the start on the mound and shut down the Macabees early on. The strong pitching and defense from the Privateers allowed their offense to take control of the game. In the first inning, leadoff hitter Matt Eng (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) reached first safely and continued his impressive season on the base paths by stealing second. After Phil Russo (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) advanced him to third base, Travis Zurita (Ozone Park, N.Y./Poly Prep) brought him home for the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly. 

In the second frame, senior designated hitter Joe Scerra (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) hit his second home run of the season to right center to give Maritime a 2-0 lead. The bottom of the third frame continued the consistent offense for the Privateers as Zurita doubled into the left centerfield gap to score Russo from first base, and then freshman right fielder Eric Wenig (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) drove in Zurita for a 4-0 advantage.

The game opened up for Maritime in the bottom of the fifth inning as the offense exploded for eight runs. Highlighting the big inning for the Privateers was Scerra's second home run of the game, this time a three-run shot to right field. The Privateers went on to close out the opening game of the doubleheader in seven innings with a 12-2 victory.

Zurita and Scerra both led the offensive effort by going 2-3 with four RBIs. Ragone threw the complete seven innings for Maritime and only allowed one earned run for his second win of the season. '

The second game saw more power hitting and strong defense from the Privateers. Eric Wenig (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) opened up the game offensively in the first inning with a two-run homer to right field. 

After the Macabees brought the game to 4-2 in the top of the third inning, freshman catcher Ryan Rockhill (Eastchester, NY/Tuckahoe) delivered a clutch two-out hit in the bottom half to score two runs and bring the lead back up to 6-2. In the fourth inning, Maritime tacked on three more runs, including a solo home run from Wenig. In the top of the 6th, Wenig blasted his third home run of the game over the center field fence.

Travis Bruinsma (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) earned the start and threw 4.1 innings, while Blaise Delise (Bellerose, NY/High School for Construction) and Keegan McDonald (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) finished off the 11-2 win in relief. 

The Privateers return to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for their Set the Expectation Game on Reinhart Field against CCNY. Check the post-game press conference with head coach Charlie Barbieri, Scerra, and Russo below!!