MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Lawnwood Park, Fort Pierce, Fla.

FINAL:              IMMACULATA 8, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 5

FORT PIERCE, Fla. --  Immaculata overcame a two-run sixth inning deficit by scoring seven times in its final four at-bats to post an 8-5 non-league college baseball victory over Massachusetts Maritime Saturday evening at Lawnwood Park.

The Mighty Macs (1-2) trailed 3-1 heading into the top of the sixth and evened matters in the frame on RBI singles by senior Mike Lascomb (Sterling, Va.) and junior Howie Kalamets (Myersville, Md.), but the Buccaneers (0-1) regained a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the inning on sophomore Connor Kennedy's (West Barnstable, Mass.) second RBI single of the game that plated fellow sophomore William Keane (Braintree, Mass.).  Immaculata took the lead for good with three unearned runs in the top of the seventh, as junior Dom Ficca (Exton, Pa.) and sophomore Coleman Richards (Jackson, N.J.) were hit by pitches and came around to score when junior Jason McCormick's (West Chester, Pa.) sacrifice bunt attempt was thrown away down the right field line.  McCormick scored on the play to give the Mighty Macs a 4-3 edge, and Immaculata tacked on a pair of insurance tallies in the eighth and ninth innings, the latter on a suicide squeeze off the bat of senior Ryan Ficca (Exton, Pa.), to account for the final score.

Massachusetts Maritime overcame a 1-0 third inning deficit to take a 2-1 advantage on an RBI groundout by freshman Paul Sances (Middleboro, Mass.) and a passed ball, and the Buccaneers extended their lead to 3-1 in the fourth on Connor Kennedy's RBI single to left.  Five of Immaculata's final seven runs of the night were unearned, as the Mighty Macs took advantage of four errors to spoil the collegiate coaching debut of Massachusetts Maritime mentor Mike Kelley.

Senior Nick Campione (Clark, N.J.) picked up the win with three scoreless innings in relief of senior Dan Whalen (Cape May, N.J.), who went the first five frames.  Freshman Brandon Shapiro (Newtown, Pa.) tossed a scoreless ninth to earn his first collegiate save for the Mighty Macs in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.  Senior Kevin Kwedor (Marshfield, Mass.) suffered the setback on the mound in allowing three unearned runs in four frames for Massachusetts Maritime, as fellow senior Kyle Kennedy (Woodbury, Conn.) allowed one run over the first five innings for the Buccaneers.

Both teams will face Elizabethtown in respective non-league doubleheaders for their next contests, as Massachusetts Maritime battles the Blue Jays in a twinbill tomorrow morning at Lawnwood Park beginning at 11:00 a.m.  Immaculata will square off with Elizabethtown for a pair of outings on Monday morning that also begin at 11:00 a.m.