THROGGS NECK, NY – The Maritime College baseball team welcomed Plattsburgh to Reinhart Baseball Field for a doubleheader on Sunday. The Cardinals (9-1) scored 12 late runs to notch a 14-5 victory in the opener before completing the sweep with a 5-1 win over the Privateers (2-8) in Game 2.
After Plattsburgh jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Game 1, Maritime struck back with three in the bottom of the third.
Dominick Viggiano (Miller Place, NY) led off the inning with a double, then
Joey Goodman (Merrick, NY) tied the game with a homer to right center. Two batters later,
Alex Bardi (Wantagh, NY) crushed his second long ball in as many days, putting the Privateers in front.
Maritime added another run in the sixth. The Privateers loaded the bases with one out, and
Randy Ventura (Syosset, NY) delivered a single to right that increased the margin to 4-2. However, the Cardinals got back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. Plattsburgh then went in front on Michael Piccirillo's grand slam in the top of the eighth. The Cardinals tacked on eight more in the ninth before
Owen Weber (Kings Park, NY) belted a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 14-5 final.
Weber had a double and a homer in the contest, while Goodman was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer. Viggiano also recorded two hits.
Joe Sorge (Montgomery, NY) got the start on the mound and went the first six innings. He allowed two runs on seven hits, struck out eight and walked two.
Luke Martinez (Mineola, NY) tossed 1.1 innings, yielding two runs on a hit and two walks while picking up a strikeout.
Colin McKeon (Mullica Hill, NJ) (0-1) took the loss after surrendering 10 runs on nine hits with a walk and a strikeout over 1.1 innings.
As a team, Plattsburgh pounded out 17 hits, with each Cardinals starter tallying at least one hit and scoring at least once. Jonathan Beale finished 3-for-6 with a triple, two runs scored, and Jackson Pam went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Piccirillo, meanwhile, ended up 2-for-5 with two runs scored and six RBIs. Starting pitcher Isaiah Maines lasted 5.1 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits, striking out six and walking two. John Esposito (2-0) earned the win after holding Maritime to one run on three hits over the final 3.2 innings. He was credited with eight strikeouts and issued one walk.
In Game 2, the Cardinals put a run across in the top of the second before the Privateers tied it in the third. Ventura led off the inning with a double, then stole third. After
Dylan Payano (Flushing, NY) walked, Bardi roped a single up the middle. Ventura scored on the play, but Payano was thrown out at home, keeping it a 1-1 game.
Plattsburgh regained the lead on a solo home run by Colin Ross in the fifth, and Ross added an RBI single in the seventh. He moved to second on a wild pitch (which allowed another run to score before eventually scoring on a groundout to extend the Cardinals' advantage to 5-1. Dom Benedetto then shut Maritime down in the bottom of the seventh to finish off the doubleheader sweep.
Sean Mylan (Lynbrook, NY) (0-3) started on the mound for the Privateers and took the loss. He went six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts and a walk.
Jackson Tucholski (Massapequa, NY) pitched the seventh, yielding two runs on two hits. Offensively, Weber and
Chris Picarella (Levittown, NY) notched two hits apiece for Maritime.
For Plattsburgh, Ross went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Pam also recorded a pair of hits and drove in a run. Kyan Zamaniyan (2-0) lasted five innings on the mound and earned the win. He gave up one run on six hits, struck out five and walked two. Benedetto surrendered just one hit over two shutout innings to pick up the save.
On Thursday, the Privateers host John Jay (1-10) at 7 p.m. The game was originally slated for Tuesday, but was rescheduled due to the expected cold temperatures.
