The Maritime College baseball team pulled out another clutch game one victory against Purchase College on Sunday afternoon as a bases clearing, three RBI triple from
Adam Mosca (Massapequa Park, NY/Massapequa) in the bottom of the eighth inning led the Privateers to a 12-8 win.
The opening game saw a lot of back and forth action between the two teams, but it was Maritime who held control early on. The Privateers put together a big two-out rally in the bottom of the third, which began with a
Ryan Rockhill (Eastchester, NY/Tuckahoe) single to center field. After
Freddy Forgione (Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem North) and
Travis Zurita (Ozone Park, NY/Poly Prep) drew walks,
Phil Russo (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph By The Sea) knocked in the first run with a single just over the pitcher's head. Then
Austen Bishop (Millersville, MD/Archbishop Spalding) stepped up to the plate and delivered a shot to right center that scored two more runs and gave Maritime a 4-1 advantage.
However, the Panthers began to slowly crawl their way back into the game and eventually tied it at 6-6 in the top of the sixth inning. Before allowing Purchase to tie the game at 6-6, Maritime scored in the fourth inning by Rockhill driving in
Matt Eng (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood) and then in the fifth inning behind a
Travis Zurita (Ozone Park, NY/Poly Prep) home run. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Privateers once again took the lead as
Eric Wenig (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) drove in Bishop and Russo with a double off the right field fence.
Riding a two run lead into the final two innings, Maritime was unable to hold onto their advantage and Purchase used some clutch hitting of their own to tie the game at eight. In the bottom half of the eighth inning, Mosca walked up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Down 1-2 in the count, the senior outfielder drove the ball all the way to the deep center field fence and cleared the bases to give the Privateers the 11-8 lead. On the next pitch, Mosca came all the way home with a wild pitch. Head Coach
Charlie Barbieri then turned to
Matthew Paghidas (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) out of the bullpen to close out the 12-8 win in the ninth inning.
Mosca finished 2-4 at the plate with the three RBIs and a run scored, while Rockhill and Bishop each turned in three-hit games with two RBIs. Also chipping in was
Phil Russo (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph By The Sea) with two hits, two runs scored, and an RBI as well as
Matt Eng (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood) with two runs scored and two stolen bases.
Niko Concha (Ballston Spa, NY/Saratoga) got the start on the mound and threw five innings with three earned runs, while
Keegan McDonald (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale),
Shane Sullivan (Stewart Manor, NY/Chaminade), and Paghidas combined for the final four innings out of the bullpen.
Maritime was unable to keep their momentum going in the second game and ultimately fell by a score of 9-0. Highlighting the game was
Chris Simone (Bayside, NY/Holy Cross) and
Curtis Buchan (Ghent, NY/Chatham) combining for 4.1 innings of relief pitching and no runs allowed, as well as hits from Eng,
A.J. Corso (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex),
Joe Cordero (Franklin Square, NY/Kellenberg), and
Vasilios Vafakos (Astoria, NY/Xavier).
The Privateers will take on Mount Saint Vincent in doubleheader action on Reinhart Field on Wednesday, April 21 beginning at 3 p.m.
