SUNY Maritime Privateers faced off against the College of Staten Island Dolphins in a nautically-themed doubleheader today. Maritime lost game one after an incredible comeback by Staten Island, but rallied to win the second game behind the masterful pitching of Travis Bruinsma.
Maritime wasted no time in game one scoring three runs in the first. Shortstop Matt Costleigh smacked a leadoff home run. Costleigh’s shot to right center got the Privateers started, and they added on runs with an RBI ground out and an RBI single by Aaron Schiavoni and Phil Russo, respectively.
They added another run in the second on a sacrifice fly from Costleigh, then another in the fourth on a single up the middle by Chris Deddo.
Maritime was up five to nothing after 5 1/3 innings thanks to the pitching of Tyler Stuart. Stuart didn’t give up a hit in his time on the mound, but had to leave the game due to his elevated pitch count. He walked eight while striking out four and the one run that was charged to him was scored after he left the game.
Stuart was still in line to earn the win, even after Staten Island put up four runs in the sixth after he exited. Maritime even added an insurance run on another single from Deddo in the sixth, he and centerfielder Connor Alwan were the only two Privateers with multi-hit games.
Maritime was up 6-4 heading into the seventh and final inning of play, but Staten Island wasn’t ready to lie down. They added four more runs and just like that they were up 8-4. The Privateers went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, so in the span of 1 2/3 innings Staten Island went from being no-hit to winning the game.
After a short intermission the two teams took the field and again Maritime jumped out to an early lead, but this time they held on. A bases-loaded single from Alwan in the second brought home two runs and gave Maritime their first lead of the game. Costleigh then drove Alwan and Zach Parilla in with another single of his own.
Staten Island responded with one of their own in the fourth, but starting pitcher Travis Bruinsma settled in and shut them down for the rest of the game. Bruinsma, a redshirt freshman from Connetquot, allowed just the one run on six hits while earning his third win of the young season.
In the fifth Maritime once again loaded the bases in the fifth, one run scored when Stephen Semler was hit by a pitch, and two more came around on a single to right by Joe Scerra. Scerra, Costleigh, Alwan and Russo all had two-hit games.
Again Bruinsma took the mound, this time with a few more insurance runs, but he wouldn’t need them. The sixth was relatively easy, he allowed a single runner on a walk, the seventh was a little more dramatic. A single and a walk put two runners on with one out, but this time there would be no comeback, Bruinsma got Staten Island’s batter to bounce into a double play cementing the 7-1 victory.
After the game head coach Charlie Barbieri spoke on the importance of coming back strong after their loss, “I thought that we were pretty resilient in game two, we always talk about being able to come back, and you know we felt like we controlled most of game one and to give away the lead the lead that we had very late was tough… But the way we came back in game two and fought, and again just having that resilant mindset was outstanding.”
Assuming the weather cooperates Maritime will be back in action this Wednesday night at 7 P.M. versus Fisher.
