NEWBURGH, N.Y. – Despite a record of 2-5 during its recent trip to Florida, the Mount Saint Mary College baseball team returned north with one goal in mind – a Skyline Conference championship. The Knights pick up their season on Saturday with a non-conference double-header against Rivier College before opening up Skyline play against Old Westbury on Sunday.

Mount Saint Mary opened their southern swing with a 10-2 loss to Moravian College on Sunday, March 6. Following a walk-off loss in a twinbill opener to SUNYIT, the Knights collected their first win of the season with an 11-3 defeat of the Wildcats. Freshman Dean White (Bethel, Conn.) worked five strong innings for the victory and the Knights got two hits each from junior Josh Depew (Montgomery, N.Y.), freshman Vinnie Carminati (Huntington, N.Y.), and junior Max Tecce (Glen Cove, N.Y.).

On Tuesday, the Knights lost another heartbreaker, this time to Brandeis University by a score of 3-2. Trailing 3-1 in the ninth, the Mount crept to within one on an RBI single from junior Joe Clarke (Maybrook, N.Y.). The Knights would strand runners at the corners, however, allowing the Judges to escape with a one-run victory.

Mount Aloysius used two runs in the fifth, three runs in the sixth, and three runs in the seventh to defeat Mount Saint Mary on Wednesday by a score of 10-6. The Knights responded well, however, and earned a hard-fought extra-innings victory over Drew University on Thursday. After yielding the go-ahead run in the top of the 13th inning, the Knights won in walk-off fashion when sophomore Michael Morelli (Washingtonville, N.Y.) launched a two-run triple in the bottom half of the inning. Sophomore Marc Soevyn (Elmont, N.Y.) pitched the final four and two-thirds innings to claim the victory.

Unfortunately for the Mount, any momentum from the Drew win disappeared during a 13-7 loss to Webster University on Friday. The Knights led, 7-2, after five frames, but Webster scored multiple runs in each of the final four innings while shutting down the Mount.

Carminati made the most of the trip, pacing the team with a .385 batting average, a team-high seven runs scored, and a team-high six stolen bases. Morelli also had a nice week, finishing 10-for-27 at the plate (.370) with a team-high nine runs batted in and a slugging percentage of .630. Tecce and sophomore Thomas McNoble (Breezy Point, N.Y.) recorded batting averages above .300 on the trip and each scored five runs.

Soevyn was the team's most successful pitcher, allowing just two earned runs in ten innings of work. Junior Brady Purcell (Montgomery, N.Y.) gave the Knights a quality start against SUNYIT, allowing just two runs over six innings.

Saturday's double dip with Rivier College is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start at Dutchess Stadium in Fiskill. Sunday's double-header against Old Westbury is slated for a noon start.