MANSFIELD, CT – On Tuesday, the Maritime College baseball team concluded a span of eight straight games away from home by visiting Eastern Connecticut State. The Warriors (13-5), who received votes in this week's D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 poll, jumped out to an early lead en route to a 16-2 victory over the Privateers (9-10) at Eastern Baseball Stadium.
Eastern Connecticut State scored six runs in the bottom of the first before adding single tallies in the second and third to increase its cushion to 8-0. Maritime finally broke through with a pair of runs in the fifth.
David Granucci (Medford, NY) led off the inning with a double, then came across on
John Spallin's (Holmdel, NJ) RBI groundout. After
Chris Picarella (Levittown, NY) reached on an error,
Owen Weber (Kings Park, NY) tripled him home.
However, the Warriors responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning to make it 9-2. Eastern Connecticut State then put up another six-spot in the sixth to extend the margin to 15-2. The Warriors added one more in the eighth before Daniel Lapham retired the Privateers in order in the top of the ninth.
Maritime was held to five hits in the game. Spallin was 1-for-3 with an RBI, while Weber went 1-for-4 with an RBI triple. Granucci's double was the Privateers' only other extra-base hit.
Colin McKeon (Mullica Hill, NJ) (1-1) got the start on the mound and took the loss. He yielded seven runs on seven hits, struck out one and walked two over two innings. For Maritime relievers followed, pitching a combined six innings out of the bullpen.
For Eastern Connecticut State, Ray Leonzi finished 3-for-3 with two walks, three runs scored and two RBIs. Josh Cofrancesco was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBIs. Teige Kimbler also had three hits and scored twice. Ian Moser, meanwhile, reached base four times, going 2-for-2 with two walks, three runs scored and two RBIs.
Starting pitcher Nathan Furino (2-0) earned the win after allowing two runs (one earned) and three hits over five innings. He struck out seven and walked one. The Warriors bullpen tossed four shutout innings, giving up just a pair of singles and not issuing a walk.
The Privateers (2-0 Skyline) are scheduled to return to Reinhart Baseball Field on Saturday for a 10:30 a.m. doubleheader with Manhattanville (12-8, 2-2 Skyline). It will mark the first time the teams are meeting since the Valiants upset Maritime 3-2 in the first round of the 2024 Skyline Conference Tournament.
