DAVENPORT, FL – On Wednesday night, the Maritime College baseball team began its annual stay at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with a matchup against No. 16 Wisconsin-La Crosse. Taking on a nationally-ranked opponent for the second time this season, the Privateers (5-7) saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with a 7-3 loss to the Eagles (5-2) at Northeast Regional Park.
Wisconsin-La Crosse scored twice in the top of the first before increasing its lead to 4-0 with single runs in the second and third. Maritime responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the third, however. After
Owen Weber's (Kings Park, NY) two-out single,
Alex Bardi (Wantagh, NY) crushed a home run that cut the Hawks' advantage in half.
Michael Frazzetta (Howard Beach, NY) was up next, and he belted another long ball. The back-to-back home runs brought the Privateers within 4-3.
It would remain that way until the seventh, when Wisconsin-La Crosse added an unearned tally. Mac Born then made it 7-3 with a two-run triple in the eighth. Frazzetta knocked in Weber with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, and
Logan Martinson (Sumner, WA) followed with a base hit, bringing the tying run to the plate with one out. Caleb Matl got the final two outs, though, to finish off the Hawks' 7-4 victory.
Maritime had 12 hits in the game—10 of which came from the top four batters in the lineup. Frazzetta reached base all five times, finishing 3-for-3 with a homer, two walks, two runs scored and two RBIs. Martinson was 3-for-5, while Bardi ended up 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs. Weber tallied two hits and scored twice.
Matt Demme (Carmel, NY) (1-2) made the start on the mound and took the loss. He allowed four runs on nine hits and three walks in 5.2 innings. Demme also fanned four, including the 150
th strikeout of his career.
Sean Mylan (Lynbrook, NY) gave up one unearned run over 1.1 innings before
Haydn Strycharz (Pittstown, NJ) pitched 0.2 innings and
Jared Kay (Lewes, DE) threw 1.1 innings.
Every Wisconsin-La Crosse starter reached base, with Calvin Hargrove notching three hits. Born went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Jack Olver scored twice. Nate Witte and Chris VandenHeuvel added two hits apiece. Starting pitcher Owen Deprez (2-0) lasted 5.1 innings on the mound. He yielded three runs on seven hits, struck out seven and walked two. Matl was credited with his second save after tossing the final 3.2 innings. He was charged with one run on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
The Privateers are back in action on Thursday, when they face Ripon (3-7) at 11 a.m.
