BRONX, NY – After winning its first eight Skyline Conference games of the season, the Maritime College baseball team suffered two losses against Mount St. Vincent on Sunday.  The Dolphins (10-13, 6-4 Skyline) walked off with an 8-7 victory in the first game of a doubleheader with the Privateers (18-7, 8-2 Skyline) at Roberto Clemente Park, then took the nightcap by a 17-14 count.

In Game 1, Maritime scored twice in the top of the first before Mount St. Vincent responded with a pair in the bottom half of the inning.  The Dolphins put at least one run on the board in each of the first five innings, as they built a 7-2 lead.

The Privateers rallied in the top of the sixth.  After Logan Martinson's (Sumner, WA) leadoff single, Alex Bardi (Wantagh, NY) and Harry Leipold (Thornwood, NJ) were both hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Rob Copozzi (Center Moriches, NY).  He delivered a grand slam to right field that brought Maritime within one.  The Privateers then tied it in the seventh when Leipold went deep to center field.  However, Will Granata won it for Mount St. Vincent in the bottom of the seventh with a walk-off home run to center. The 8-7 defeat snapped Maritime's six-game winning streak.

Leipold finished 2-for-3 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBIs.  Martinson and Randy Ventura (Syosset, NY) each went 2-for-4, and Bardi scored twice.  Copozzi, meanwhile, collected four RBIs on his grand slam.  Frank Santeramo (Garden City, NY) got the start on the mound and lasted four innings. He allowed six runs on five hits, struck out three and walked three.  Colin McKeon (Mullica Hill, NJ) gave up one unearned run in one inning, while William Chu (Port Washington, NY) (2-1) took the loss after yielding one run on one hit with a walk and a strikeout in 1.1 innings.

For the Dolphins, Stephen Marinez and Jason Albert were both 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs.  Eric Zimmermann also had two hits, while Johnny Brucato recorded two runs.  Mount St. Vincent starter Sean Kennedy went five innings, surrendering six runs on six hits.  He walked three and struck out one.  Michael Iocco allowed one run on two hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 1.1 innings.  In addition to crushing the walk-off homer, Granata (2-1) was credited with the win after pitching the final 0.2 innings.

Mount St. Vincent struck quickly in Game 2, putting up a nine-spot in the bottom of the first.  Maritime slowly chipped away, getting home runs from Freddy Forgione (Ronkonkoma, NY) and Leipold in the third before Martinson made it 9-4 with an RBI single in the fourth.  Michael Frazzetta (Howard Beach, NY) and Anthony Madigan (Greenlawn, NY) then crushed back-to-back homers in the fifth, bringing the Privateers within 9-7.

However, Brucato hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, and Marinez added a solo shot in the sixth to make it 12-7 in favor of the Dolphins.  Mount St. Vincent picked up two more in the seventh before Forgione launched his second homer of the game and Ventura drew a bases loaded walk in the top of the eighth.  The Dolphins increased their cushion to 17-9 in the bottom of the eighth, but Maritime mounted a furious rally in the ninth.

Forgione reached on an infield single, then Martinson walked and Bardi was hit by a pitch.  Vasilios Vafakos (Astoria, NY) was up next, and he roped an RBI single that made it 17-10.  After two more runs scored on an error, the Privateers loaded the bases again on Nick Pinggera's (Kings Park, NY) infield single.  Frazzetta knocked in a pair of runs with a two-out single to left before Madigan grounded out to end the game, as Maritime dropped a 17-14 decision.

As a team, the Privateers pounded out 16 hits, with Forgione going deep twice for the second time this season and the fourth time in his career.  Frazzetta finished 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs, while Ventura reached base five times on two hits and three walks.  He scored two runs.  Bardi was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, and Vafakos also crossed the plate twice. 

Evan Block (Seaford, NY) (0-1) made his first start of the season and took the loss.  He was charged with nine runs on six hits and two walks while posting one strikeout.  Andrew Heiderstadt (Farmingdale, NY) pitched 4.1 innings of relief, yielding two runs on five hits, striking out five and issuing two walks.  Gavin McIntyre (Princess Anne, MD), Jonathan Racanello (New Rochelle, NY) and Nick Capone (Deer Park, NY) all tossed an inning out of the bullpen for the Privateers.

Every Mount St. Vincent starter had at least one hit, with Marinez going 4-for-5 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored.  Dom Porto finished with three hits and scored four times, while Brucato tallied six RBIs.  Peter Pannullo and Zach Turko, meanwhile, each crossed the plate three times.

Starting pitcher Aidan Cardenas (1-2) earned the win after holding the Privateers to four runs on six hits over three innings.  He struck out five and walked three.  Mount St. Vincent used seven total pitchers in the game, with Jake Bland getting the final two outs in the ninth to pick up the save.  He allowed one unearned run on two hits and recorded one strikeout.

On Tuesday, the Privateers begin a five-game homestand by welcoming FDU-Florham (10-20) to Reinhart Baseball Field for a non-conference matchup that gets underway at 7 p.m.