PATCHOGUE, N.Y. - The Purchase College baseball team concluded the 2023 season Saturday afternoon after falling to Maritime College, 6-1, in the final game of the Skyline Conference Semifinals.

With the result, the Panthers finished the year 22-21 overall and 11-9 in Skyline Conference games. The 22 wins are the second most in program history, while the 11 Skyline wins rank as third best in the team's 16 years in the conference.

Entering the day, the Blue and Orange needed a victory to extend their season and move onto the Championship Game for the first-time ever. Instead, the team tied the performance of the 2014 squad, which previously held the best finish in team history with one semifinal win as well.

Despite the defeat, the Panthers exceeded expectations across the board all season long. The Skyline Conference certainly took notice, and the future is quite bright for this bunch of guys.

Skyline Conference Semifinals - Game 3: No. 2 Maritime 6, No. 6 Purchase 1

As for the game Saturday afternoon, it started slowly as neither side scored until the fifth inning.

Purchase nearly collected runs three times over the opening four innings, putting runners in scoring position in the first, second and fourth innings, but came up empty each time.

As for Maritime, the squad faced the same issue of not being able to drive in runs over the opening innings.

However, that narrative finally broke in the top of the fifth inning, when Maritime's Matt Milone (JR/Farmingdale, NY) took matters into his own hands and crushed a two-run homer to left field.

With the lead on their side, the Privateers' offense came alive one inning later by scoring four runs to blow the game wide open, 6-0.

The Panthers refused to give up though, and manufactured a run in the bottom of the seventh off a sacrifice fly from Patrick Reyes (FR/ Plainedge, NY).

From there, Maritime locked in and held Purchase at bay to secure the win and move onto the title game against No. 1 St. Joseph's University-Long Island.

Overall, the Blue and Orange finished with seven hits on the day.

In addition to his RBI, Reyes tallied a double and stolen base, while Liam Daly (FR/Babylon, NY) finished with a hit and stolen base in the effort.

On the mound, Jonathan Uzzo (FR/Bethpage, NY) was tagged with the loss despite a solid outing. He went five innings, struckout two and allowed two runs on four hits.

The game also marked the end of the careers of four seniors - Jemal Betances (Bronx, NY), Louis Carvell (New York, NY), Jackson Lowery (Woodbridge, VA) and Ryan Castrataro (Mahopac, NY).

In their final games, Betances walked once and pitched 1 2/3 innings with a strikeout. Carvell recorded a hit and walk, while Lowery collected the final out for the Panthers. Castrataro had the day off after starting on the hill yesterday.

Purchase College baseball will return to action in February or March 2024.