FORT PIERCE, Fla. – The Maritime baseball team split action on Friday afternoon as the Privateers fell in their opening contest at historic Holman Stadium in Vero Beach to Bridgewater State by an 11-3 score. The Privateers bounced back in the team's second game of the day, as Maritime handed Drew its second loss of the season by a 9-4 score.
 
On the day, Maritime had 24 hits at the plate with 14 coming in the team's second matchup of the afternoon. Junior Chris Deddo (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) had three hits and reached base four times, while driving in three runs. Senior Brian McLaughlin (Massapequa, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) drove in a pair of runs on two hits vs. Drew, while junior Connor Alwan (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) had four hits overall on the day.
 
Sophomore John Verwoert (Nanuet, N.Y./Nanuet) had a pair of RBIs in the opener, while fellow sophomore Matthew Buckshaw (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) also drove in one run against Bridgewater State. Juniors Aaron Schiavoni (Sag Harbor, N.Y./Pierson) and Stephen Semler (Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington) each had three hits on the day with the pair scoring two runs apiece.
 
Pitching was a key in Maritime's win as freshman Matthew Paghidas (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) needed 86 pitches to get through six innings as he scattered five hits and allowed just one run as he struck out three to earn his second win of the season. Classmate Luciano Besh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Franklin Regional) earned the rare three-inning save as he struck out a pair of batters during his 56-pitch outing.
 
In the opener, freshman Skylar Graff (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) continued to impress, as he did not allow a run, as he struck out four batters over here innings of relief. Sophomore Nick Fortunato (Coram, N.Y./Longwood) also tossed three innings as he struck out two batters during his 40-pitch outing.
 
Game 1
Sophomore A.J. Ammirati (Queens, N.Y./Construction) got his second start of the year and yielded four runs in the opening inning. The Privateer offense also struggled in the early going and only got one baserunner past first past through the first three innings.
 
Schiavoni doubled to deep left centerfield and moved up to third on a single off the bat of freshman Phil Russo (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea). Buckshaw had his RBI come on a groundout to give Maritime its first run of the game.
 
Graff continued to pitch into the fourth inning after retiring three of the final five batters in the third. The Privateers continued to trailed by 10 runs until the eighth inning.
 
Semler got the rally going with a triple to left centerfield; Verwoert drove him in with a base hit to give Maritime a second run. The Privateers scored once more in the night on three hits as Maritime fell by an 11-3 score.
 
Game 2
Maritime returned to Fort Pierce and focused its efforts on Drew, as he Privateers were looking to snap the five-game Florida winning streak
 
Sophomore Matt Costleigh (West Islip, N.Y./St. Anthony's) got the game going with a two-strike single up the middle then stole second. Semler singled two batter later to chase Costleigh home. McLaughlin connected on a base hit to put runners on the corners, and later Russo singled home Maritime's second run of the inning.
 
Paghidas took to the bump in the bottom of the inning and allowed a pair of singles, but escaped from the threat with a pop up.
 
The Privateer offense got picked up where it left off as Alwan doubled with one out, Deddo drove him around with a knock to centerfield to increase the Privateer lead to three. Semler walked on a 3-0 pitch, and both he and Deddo moved up into scoring position on a wild pitch. McLaughlin picked up the pair with a base hit and pushed the Privateer lead up to five.
 
In the second, Paghidas cruised to a 1-2-3 inning before getting some help in the bottom of the third on a double-caught stealing play as the Rangers ran themselves out the inning. Drew did break through on back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fourth as Privateer lead was trimmed to four.

The top of the sixth saw Alwan start another rally with a one out single. Costleigh singled down the left field line and took advantage of the throw going to third as he took second. Deddo flicked the ball down the right field line to plate the pair, then later came around to score on a ball thrown into centerfield by the Drew catcher.
 
Already up by an 8-1 score, Paghidas closed out his day allowing just one hit in the sixth inning to close out his day allowing one run on five hits while striking out three.
 
Besh came on in the bottom of the seventh and was a strike-throwing machine as the lefty threw just two pitches out of the strike zone but allowed two runs as Drew closed the gap to 8-3. Besh settled down and cruised through the bottom of the eighth to send the game to the ninth.
 
Schiavoni led off the inning and crushed his fifth double of the year over the centerfielder's head before advancing to third on a wild pitch with senior Chris Stewart (Bethpage, N.Y./Chaminade) at the plate. On the second wild pitch of the at bat, Schiavoni scampered home with Maritime's ninth run of the game.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Besh surrendered just one run before getting the last two batters to pop up to McLaughlin as the Privateers picked up the 9-4 victory.
 
Maritime (4-3) will close out its Florida trip on Saturday, when the team meets up with Misericordia for the second time on the trip beginning at 9:30 a.m. The Privateers will then take on Hilbert at approximately 1:00 p.m.
 
Bridgewater State (3-6) will return to New England with its next scheduled game set for Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. when the Bears play host to the Brandeis Judges.
 
Drew (7-2) will play its last game in Florida on Saturday as well, when the Rangers take on Penn State-Behrend at 9:30 a.m.