PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State baseball team dropped its season-opening doubleheader to Maritime College on Sunday afternoon at St. Joseph's (L.I.) College's Gregg Alfano Field, falling to the Privateers, 6-5, in game one before dropping the nightcap, 16-7.
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 0-2 overall with the losses and next visits St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) College on Sunday, March 6, for a 12 p.m. doubleheader. Maritime rises to 2-0 overall with the wins and next faces Elizabethtown College in a doubleheader in Fort Pierce, Fla., on Thursday, March 3, at 11:30 a.m.
 
Game 1: Maritime 6, Plattsburgh State 5
 
Maritime won in walk-off fashion in game one, as sophomore second baseman Jaden Shea hit a two-out triple down the right-field line to plate the tying and winning runs.
 
Down 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh, the Privateers led off the inning with a single by graduate student center fielder Travis Zurita and a double by sophomore third baseman Freddy Forgione before junior right fielder Austen Bishop plated Zurita with a single to center field. Senior catcher Ryan Rockhill drove in a run on an RBI fielder's choice to cut the gap to 5-4, but Rockhill was retired on a fielder's choice during the ensuing at-bat to put just a runner on first with two outs. Sophomore Nick Pinggera drew a walk before Shea drove in both baserunners to win in walk-off fashion.
 
Forgione plated Zurita with an RBI double in the bottom of the first to open scoring, while Rockhill pushed across Forgione in the home half of the third to put the Privateers on top, 2-0.
 
Plattsburgh State enjoyed a three-run fourth to open up a 3-2 advantage. First-year third baseman Kyle Cremin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) used an RBI groundout to score senior shortstop Christian Lent (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place), while graduate student first baseman Steve Messerschmitt (Fishkill, N.Y./Carmel) tied the game with an RBI single to left center. First-year center fielder Michael Ascanio (Armonk, N.Y./Byram Hills) drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Cardinals the lead.
 
Lent scored on an RBI groundout from senior left fielder Nolan De Melfi (Shirley, N.Y./William Floyd) in the top of the fifth, while Messerschmitt pushed across Cremin to put Plattsburgh State out in front, 5-2.
 
Messerschmitt led the Cardinal bats in game one, going 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Forgione batted 4-for-4 with two runs scored for Maritime.
 
Senior pitcher Sean Malamud (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan E. Wagner) pitched well in his Plattsburgh State debut, as he scattered six hits and allowed just two runs in six innings of work. Sophomore pitcher Justin Osborn (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) was tagged with the loss in relief. Maritime utilized five pitchers in the victory, with first-year pitcher Matthew Demme tossing two hitless and scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.
 
Game 2: Maritime 16, Plattsburgh State 7
 
Maritime used a six-run second and a seven-run fifth to cruise to a 16-7 victory over Plattsburgh State in game two.
 
The Privateers scored one run in the first, six runs in the second and two runs in the third, and an RBI infield single by Bishop staked Maritime to a 9-0 lead. Messerschmitt came around to score on a throwing error in the fifth to put the Cardinals on the board, but the Privateers plated seven runs in the home half of the inning to go ahead, 16-1.
 
De Melfi pushed across sophomore shortstop Alex Kornblau (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) on an RBI single to the pitcher in the top of the sixth before Messerschmitt drove in a run on a fielder's choice and sophomore second baseman Francesco Geraci (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) came around to score on a throwing error. In the seventh, Plattsburgh State scored three more runs, with Kornblau driving in junior Mike Rasquin (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) on a sacrifice fly, Geraci scoring junior center fielder Daniel Cardito (Malverne, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) on an RBI double and sophomore third baseman Nick Cergol (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) plating first-year catcher Michael Catrone (Northport, N.Y./Northport) on a sacrifice fly.
 
Geraci led the Cardinals with a 2-for-4 outing at the dish in game two, while Forgione and sophomore first baseman Jake Bernardi each had two hits for Maritime in a game in which the Privateers had 13 base knocks as a team.
 
Junior pitcher Andrew Veit (Yaphank, N.Y./Bellport) was tagged with the loss for the Cardinals, while senior pitcher Niko Concha earned the win on the hill in an inning of relief for the Privateers.