Throggs Neck, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Baseball team opened Skyline Conference play on Saturday with a pair of heartbreaking 9-8 losses on the road at Maritime. Freshman John Santana (Warwick, N.Y.) blasted two home runs in Saturday's opener and added a double in game two.
 
Game 1: Maritime 9 – Mount Saint Mary 8
The Knights got off to a quick start in the opener when Santana drove in Nick Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) with a one out home run in the first to give the Knights an early 2-0 lead. Rizzo led off the frame with a single and stole second in front of Santana first round tripper of the season.
 
After being held off the board in the home half of the first the Privateers got on the board in the second and added two runs in the third and three more runs in the fourth. Aaron Schiavoni homered for Maritime in the second and Stephen Semler plated two runs in the third with a home run. The Privateers strung together five hits in the fourth with Schiavoni plating a run with a two out infield single.
 
Maritime added two runs in the seventh to open a 8-2 lead before the Knights mounted a late comeback that came up a run short. The Knights plated two runs in the seventh when Santana drove in Rizzo with his second two-run blast of the day. After the home run cut the deficit to 8-4 and Semler added his second homer of the day in the home half of the inning, the Knights scored four runs on just two hits in the ninth.
 
Nicholas Terzulli (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drove in a run with a double and Joey Pugliese followed with a two-run double to get the Mount to within 9-7. Peter Knights (White Plains, N.Y.) delivered Pugliese with a one out groundout before the Mount stranded the tying run at third base.
 
The Knights finished game one with four extra base hits. Santana paced the offensive attack with a3-for-5 effort at the plate with three runs scored and four driven in. Rizzo scored twice and Pugliese finished with a run and two RBI.
Maritime pounded out 18 hits in the game and featured six players with at least two hits. Schiavoni finished 4-for-5 with a run and two RBI with Semler turning in a 3-for-5 effort with three runs and three RBI.
 
Jake Stewart (Wallkill, N.Y.) suffered the loss and fell to 0-4 on the season with 3.0 innings of work. He allowed He surrendered six runs on 10 hits and struck out one. Anthony D'Ancona picked up the win with 8.0 innings of work, striking out eight.
 
Game 2: Maritime 9 – Mount Saint Mary 8
After each team scored two runs in their first at-bat of game two, the Knights pushed in front 5-2 following a run in the second and two more in the third. Kevin Edgar (Southampton, N.Y.) scored on a wild pitch to give the Knights a 3-2 lead and Tom Huvane (Eastchester, N.Y.) and Michael Doxey (Highland, N.Y.) scored unearned runs in the third to give the Mount a three run cushion.
 
Maritime pushed across a run in the home half of the third to get to within two runs and moved in front with four runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Matt Costleigh delivered two runs in the fifth with a single and Schiavoni and Phil Russo delivered runs in the sixth to move Maritime in front 9-5.
 
For the second straight game, the Knights mounted a late inning comeback that came up a single run short. The Mount scored three times in their last at-bat with the benefit of only one hit. Santana and Vincenzo Pepe (Middletown, N.Y.) walked to lead off the inning with Santana crossing on a run scoring groundout from Terzulli. Edgar followed with a two-out, two run double and for the second straight game the Knights left the tying run in scoring position.
 
The Mount was outhit 14-7 in game two, with Santana going 2-for-2 with a run and a pair of walks. Huvane scored twice in game two and Pepe drew a pair of walks.
 
Semler collected three more hits and drove in two more runs for Maritime with Brian McLuahglin going 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
 
Blake Keenan (Fishkill, N.Y.) suffered the loss in his third start of the season. He allowed six runs on 10 hits and struck out three. Matthew Paghidas earned his third win of the season with 5.0 innings of work. He surrendered three earned runs on five hits and struck out four.
 
Saturday's doubleheader loss extends the Mount's losing streak to nine games and drops it to 2-12 overall on the season and to 0-2 in Skyline Conference play. Next up for the Knights is a trip to Farmingdale State on Sunday. First pitch with the Rams is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.