FORT PIERCE, FL – The Maritime College baseball team played the final game of its Florida trip against Wilkes on Saturday afternoon. After Wilkes jumped out to an early lead, the Privateers (4-3) scored three in the top of the seventh before the Colonels (3-0) pulled away late for a 14-3 victory at the Lanwood Sports Complex.
Wilkes scored an unearned run in the bottom of the third, then put up a four-spot in the fourth. Max Alesi and Chase Vrabel hit back-to-back RBI doubles before Michael Patrizio followed with a single that drove in a run. Alesi gave the Colonels a 6-0 lead with his RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
Maritime struck for three runs in the seventh.
Xavier Cruz (Franklin Square, NY) knocked an RBI single, and another run came across when
Justin Lee (Tuckahoe, NY) reached on a fielder's choice.
Travis Zurita's (Ozone Park, NY) fielder's choice with the bases loaded cut the Wilkes lead to 6-3, but
Patrick Bartoletta (Plainview, NY) popped out to end the inning.
In the eighth, the Colonels took advantage of four Maritime errors to score eight times. The Privateers were unable to push one across in the ninth, as Wilkes notched a 14-3 win.
Austen Bishop (Millersville, MD) had two of Maritime's five hits in the contest.
Logan Martinson (Sumner, WA), meanwhile, was 1-for-4 with a run scored.
Matthew Demme (Carmel, NY) (1-1) got the start on the mound and took the loss. He yielded six runs (five earned) on 11 hits, struck out four and walked three over 4.2 innings.
Starting pitcher JT Hibschman (1-0) earned the win for Wilks after shutting the Privateers out over six innings. He gave up just two hits, struck out six and walked three. Offensively, Vrabel paced the Colonels with four hits and three runs scored. Brandon Reno finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs, while Darren Kerdesky was 3-for-6.
After a week off, the Privateers return to action by hosting CCNY (1-4) for a doubleheader at 12 p.m. on Saturday. It will be Maritime's first games at Reinhart Baseball Field this year after the season-opening twinbill against Plattsburgh was relocated.
