Baseball's Run at Skyline Conference Championship Ends With Losses to Maritime, Mt. St. Mary

Written by Joshua Soto (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| The St. Joseph's College (L.I.) baseball team saw its 2017 Skyline Conference Championship hopes come to an end after dropping a 21-8 second round game to Maritime and an 8-4 contest to Mount St. Mary College on Sunday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles now sit at 25-14 on the year and await a potential NCAA Tournament bid, as Maritime (25-11) and mount Saint Mary moves on to the championship round on Monday.

Maritime 21 SJC 8

In game six of the Skyline Conference Championship, the Maritime Privateers pushed across 21 runs on 22 hits to outscore the Golden Eagles 21-8.

Maritime got off to a huge lead in the top of the first inning tallying eight consecutive hits to take a 6-0 lead before recording the first out. The Privateers scored two more runs after a single and an error to make it an 8-0 game.

After a scoreless second, Maritime's Chris Deddo delivered a two-run homer to take a double-digit lead over the hosts (10-0).  

Maritime tacked on five additional runs in the fifth inning on four hits and an error for the 15-0 lead.

SJC got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth, when Matt Burnett grounded out to second to score Tyler Crafa. After a Paul Britt walk, Lou Doria singled to right center to plate Bonilla to close the gap to 13, and Britt scored on a wild pitch to pull the game to within 12 (15-3).

In the bottom of the seventh, Britt and Doria tallied back-to-back singles for Dylan Piscitelli, who singled to center field to score Britt. Shortly after, Anthony Raucci singled to right field to plate a pair of runs (Doria and Piscitelli) to cut SJC's deficit to nine (15-6).

In the top of the eighth, Maritime added four more runs on two hits to increase the visitors' lead 19-6.

In the bottom of the eighth, Britt took a ball deep to left field to score two more runs but SJC still trailed 19-8.

Maritime continued its offensive outburst in the ninth scoring two more runs to run away with the 21-8 win.

Despite the loss, SJC tallied 14 hits with Burnett, Britt, Doria, Piscitelli, and Crafa all tallying multiple. Britt and Raucci both tallied two RBI's in the contest.

MSMC 8 SJC 4

With one out in the top of the first, Mount St. Mary tallied back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second for Tom Huvane, who singled to left field to score the first run of the game.

After a scoreless second, the Knights had runners on first and second for Vincenzo Pepe, who singled to left field to double their lead (2-0). MSMC was able to work back-to-back walks to take a 4-0 lead over SJC.

Burnett led off the fourth with a walk, then stole second and later scored off a Piscitelli single to cut the deficit to three runs (4-1).

In the bottom of the fifth, the Knights led off the inning with back-to-back singles when Joe Pugliese knocked one to left center to plate the fifth and sixth runs for Mount St. Mary. The Knights padded their lead with an RBI double and a single through the right side to hold an 8-1 advantage over SJC.

Burnett led off the sixth with a single to third, and eventually scored on a pass ball to close the gap to six (8-2). With Doria on second, Campanelli singled to left center and came around to score when Raucci launched a triple to right center to pull within four (8-4).

In the top of the seventh, Crafa led off with a single and advanced to third with a stolen base and an throwing error and was later plated by a Bonilla sac fly as SJC trailed by three (8-5).

Blake Keenan was able to hold off the Golden Eagles' offense in the eighth and ninth as Mount Mt. Mary advanced to the Skyline Conference Championship with an 8-5 win over SJC.