PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Purchase College baseball team suffered a pair of losses Friday evening, falling to the Mariners of the United States Merchant Marine Academy by the scores of 7-0 and 15-6.

With the losses, the Panthers' record now stands at 5-9 overall and 2-9 in Skyline Conference play. Meanwhile, the Mariners improved to 5-0 in both categories.

Game one went to the guests with relative ease following the domination on the hill from their lefty ace, Joe Raab (SR/Edwardsburg, MI). Raab tossed a seven-inning complete game, collected 10 strikeouts and allowed just four hits throughout. 

With Raab dealing, the USMMA bats were able to give him some early support with three runs in the third. The game remained 3-0 into the sixth, when the guests added another score to their tally, before closing out the contest with three more runs in the seventh frame.

As for the Panther offense, the hosts got runners into scoring position a handful of times during the defeat, but were unable to bring them in. Josh Ferro (SR/Queens, NY) and Jemal Betances (JR/Bronx, NY) each finished with a pair of hits. 

On the mound, Alex Doskoez (JR/Eastport, NY) nearly pitched a complete game of his own for the Panthers, as he went 6.2 innings. While he was eventually tagged for six runs on 12 hits, Doskoez kept things close during the first five innings.

In game two, the two squads played a much tighter contest early on, until the Mariners broke open the game late. To begin, the guests struck first with a run in the first, before the hosts responded with a pair of runs to grab the lead.

Matthew Nilsen (SR/Bellmore, NY) knocked in the opening tally on an RBI-ground out, before Betances made it 2-1 with an RBI-single to left field.

After Purchase scored its two runs, USMMA responded right back with two runs of its own in the second inning to flip the lead back to the guests, 3-2. One inning later, the Mariners added two more runs to push their advantage to 5-2.

Nilsen managed to cut into that lead in the fourth frame though, as he drilled a two-run triple down the right field line to make it 5-4.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, every time the team got one step closer, the guests responded right back and extended the lead once more.

USMMA added one run in the fourth and three in the sixth to push its advantage to 9-4 heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Purchase still managed to show its fight though, as the squad scored twice in the frame. The first run came off a Matthew Mulligan (JR/Yaphank, NY) sacrifice fly to center field and the second was courtesy of a James May (JR/Floral Park, NY) RBI-triple to cut the deficit to 9-6.

However, that was as close as the hosts got the rest of the way, as the Mariners roared back to score six runs in the seventh inning to closeout the effort.

Ferro and May each finished with two hits apiece in the defeat. On the mound, Alex Doskoez (FR/Eastport, NY) started and went 4.1 innings. He allowed six runs (three earned) on seven hits in the no decision. Reliever Ryan Castrataro (SO/Mahopac, NY) was tagged with the loss after he gave up three runs over 1.1 innings of work.

Up next for the Panthers is a chance at redemption, as they will travel to USMMA tomorrow (4/3) for another doubleheader. First pitch in that matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m.