FORT PIERCE, Fla. – The Maritime Baseball team split Friday morning's contests as the Privateers and Westminster (Pa.) Titans squared off at the Bob Gladwin Complex in Florida.
 
Maritime suffered a 14-0 loss in the opening contest, but bounced back to secure a 9-2 victory in the second game of the day.
 
In game one, Maritime sent sophomore Eric Kwiecinski(Commack, N.Y./St. Dominic) to the hill for his second start of the season. After the Maritime batters went down in the top of the first inning, Kwiecinski answered with a shutout inning of his own.
 
In the second inning, Westminster touched up the Maritime right-hander for three runs before adding a fourth run in the third inning. Kwiecinski got one out in the inning before being lifted for freshman Nick Mullady (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East).
 
In relief, Mullady went 1 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs, needing 46 pitches in his effort. SeniorDan Marino (Westwood, N.J./Westwood) pitched 1/3 of an inning, while freshman Sean McQuail (Middle Village, N.Y./Cathedral Prep) recorded the final two outs in his collegiate debut.
 
At the plate, Maritime was unable to get anything going through the first three innings. With two outs in the fourth, freshman Stephen Semler (Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington) and senior Paul Woodburn(Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) both walked, but the Privateers were unable to get the timely hit needed to score the runners.
 
Senior Justin Baierlein (Richmond Hill, N.Y./High School for CTEA) got a leadoff single in the fifth inning, but Westminster was able to get out of the inning unscathed. Baierlein reached on a two out walk in the seventh, but Maritime was not able to score, falling to the Titans by a 14-0 score.
 
The second game saw Maritime get on the board first with freshman Joe Scerra (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) reaching on a one out walk. Sophomore Chris Deddo (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville)followed with a base knock through the left side. The pair moved up on a wild pitch, which brought up sophomore Aaron Schiavoni (Sag Harbor, N.Y./Pierson).
 
The Privateer catcher came through with a bouncing ball that was booted by the Titan defense to give Maritime an early 1-0 lead.
 
Freshman Alex Poliwoda (Southold, N.Y./Southold) retired the side in the top of the first after allowing a leadoff single.  During the inning, sophomore Joe DiLeo (Naples, Fla./St. John Neumann) made a leaping highlight-reel grab for the second out in the frame. However, Westminster answered back with one run in the top of the second to even the game at one.
 
After surrendering the lead in the top of the third, Maritime's bats answered back in the bottom of the inning. Senior Kevin Monahan (Seaford, N.Y./MacArthur) got things started with a single, then stole second. Scerra walked and Deddo singled to load the bases.
 
Semler sent a long drive into right centerfield that plated a pair of runners. Schiavoni followed with a single to left to drive in another run, and later in the inning senior Bruce Tyler (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place)connected on a ball over the leftfielder's head to plate the fourth run of the frame to give Maritime a 5-2 advantage.
 
Poliwoda settled down in the fourth and helped his cause by starting a 1-6-3 double play after yielding a leadoff single.
 
Maritime's offense went back to work in the bottom of the inning, junior Thomas Galli (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) hit a sharp drive down the left field line that was caught for the first out of the inning. Up next was Monahan, who sparked a single, followed by a base knock off the bat of Scerra. A wild pitch sent Monahan sprinting for the plate, followed by Semler reaching on an infield single to put runners at the corners.
 
Schiavoni drove the pair in with a booming double to left centerfield, to plate the seventh and eighth Privateer runs of the game.
 
Poliwoda needed just four pitches to get through the fifth, including a pair of flyouts to Galli in right field for the final two outs of the inning. Maritime went down in order during the bottom of the fifth to send the contest into the sixth inning.
 
In the frame, Galli got things started with a double and advanced to third on a groundout. Up next was Scerra, who poked a ball to shortstop, the indecisive fielder chose to throw home, and airmailed the ball as Galli scored the final Privateer run.
 
Poliwoda set down the side in order in the seventh inning to seal the win for the Privateers. In the game, Poliwoda needed just 73 pitches as he scattered five hits and struck out a pair en route to his first career win and complete game.
 
Maritime (4-1) will close out its Florida swing on Saturday, when the team takes on Penn State-Behrend at 12:30 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. start against Albright.