THROGGS NECK, NY – The Maritime College baseball team will be heading into its annual Spring Break trip on a five-game winning streak.  After notching a 10-2 victory in the first game, the Privateers (5-6) completed a doubleheader sweep of Baruch (1-10) with a 5-1 triumph at Reinhart Baseball Field on Sunday afternoon.

In Game 1, Maritime scored an unearned tally in the bottom of the second before adding three runs in the third.  Randy Ventura (Syosset, NY) started the inning with a walk, then stole second and came across on Owen Weber's (Kings Park, NY) RBI single.  With two down, Logan Martinson (Sumner, NY) beat out a ground ball down the third base line, allowing Alex Bardi (Wantagh, NY) to score.  Harry Leipold (Thornwood, NJ) followed with an RBI triple that made it 4-0.

After Benjamin Luciano homered in the top of the fourth, the Privateers immediately got that run back on Weber's RBI triple.  Maritime tacked on two more in the bottom of the fifth before Martinson and Leipold hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth.  Jared Kay (Lewes, DE) sent the Bearcats down in order in the seventh to finish off the 10-2 win.

Leipold finished a double shy of the cycle.  He was 3-for-4 with a triple, a homer, two runs scored and two RBIs.  Martinson went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBIs, while Weber had two hits and drove in a pair.  John Spallin (Holmdel, NJ) also recorded two hits.  Bardi and Ventura, meanwhile, each crossed the plate twice.

Matt Demme (Carmel, NY) got the start on the mound and pitched two shutout innings.  He struck out two and walked one.  Joe Sorge (Montgomery, NY) (1-3) earned the win after allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks over three innings.  Kay faced five batters and retired them all, including an inning-ending double play in the sixth.

Baruch was held to just six hits—five singles and the Luciano home run.  Starting pitcher Benjamin Norwood (0-1) lasted four innings and took the loss.  He surrendered six runs (five earned) on eight hits, struck out three and walked two.  Calvin Adam tossed the final two innings, giving up four runs on three hits and three walks.

Roy Longarzo hit a leadoff home run for the Bearcats in Game 2, then put runners on first and second with one out.  However, Andrew Heiderstadt (Farmingdale, NY) got out of the inning with a double play and would allow only one other baserunner after that. 

A Baruch error set up the Privateers' first runs of the game in the bottom of the second, as Ventura sent a fly ball down the right field line that stayed fair for the go-ahead two-run homer.  It would remain 2-1 until the sixth, when Maritime took advantage of another Bearcats miscue.  Bardi reached on the error to start the inning, and Michael Frazzetta (Howard Beach, NY) followed with his first home run of the year, a two-run blast to right.  Spallin added a solo shot later in the inning, increasing the Privateers' advantage to 5-1.  Jack Kellner (Seaford, NY) then struck out the side in the top of the seventh, capping off Maritime's fifth straight victory after starting the season 0-6.

All five of the Privateers' hits in Game 2 went for extra bases.  Spallin and Chris Picarella (Levittown, NY) each had a double to go with the three home runs.  Heiderstadt (3-0) went four innings on the mound, allowing one run on two hits, striking out one and walking one.  Sean Mylan (Lynbrook, NY) tossed two innings of shutout relief, giving up two hits and notching three strikeouts before Kellner finished up.

Longarzo collected two of Baruch's four hits, contributing a third-inning single in addition to his home run.  Andrew LaPointe (0-3) pitched a complete game for the Bearcats and suffered the loss.  Four of the five runs he surrendered were unearned.  LaPointe was charged with five hits and notched five strikeouts.

Maritime will play five games in four days during its stay at the RussMatt Invitational in Davenport, FL.  The Privateers face No. 12 Wisconsin-La Crosse (2-2) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.