April 12, 2008

Game 1 Game 2

NEWARK, NJ - Visiting Vermont took both ends of a baseball doubleheader from NJIT Sunday afternoon and evening, taking down the Highlanders 3-1 in the crisp, well-pitched opener and then completing the sweep with an 11-3 win in the nightcap.

Both games Saturday were scheduled for seven innings and the teams are slated to play another pair of seven-inning games on Sunday, starting at 1 pm in Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

In the opener, Vermont's LHP Joe Serafin (4-1) tossed a complete-game two-hitter for the win. Despite walking five, he needed just 89 pitches to get through the seven innings, getting a lot of outs on contact early in the count.

NJIT lost despite getting its best-pitched game of the year, as sophomore LHP Bobby Wyrwa (0-6) started and was unfortunate to give up three runs in 5.2 innings and senior LHP Cory Kuzmik got the last four outs, allowing just one hit. Wyrwa struck out six and Kuzmik fanned two more Catamounts.

CF Mark Micowski and 1B Ethan Paquette each for two hits for Vermont, while DH PJ Saporito and 3B Rich Nazario accounted for NJIT's two hits.

Vermont got all the runs it needed in the third inning, when 3B Kyle Massie led off with a single and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Micowski then doubled down the line just inside the third base bag to score Massie and Micowski later scored on a two-out hit by LF Justin Milo on a comebacker that Wyrwa knocked down but couldn't find in time to get Milo at first and prevent the second run.

The Catamounts added a third run in the fifth inning on SS Matt Duffy's RBI double that gave Vermont a 3-0 lead.

NJIT got its lone run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame by 1B Mike Turner. The Highlanders later loaded the bases on a walk LF Ricky Petrosino, but Vermont's Serafin, who threw three of his five overall walks in the inning, escaped further damage with his second strikeout, stranding the three NJIT baserunners.

The nightcap featured more offense, as Vermont pounded out 16 hits, including three home runs, while plating 11 runs. NJIT finished with three runs on seven hits.

Vermont LHP Eric Thompson (3-1) started and got the win with five innings of three-hit, one-run ball. He struck out three and walked six. The Highlanders scored twice against reliever Nate Matusick.

The losing pitcher for NJIT was junior LHP PJ Saporito (1-7), who was tagged with five earned runs in less than two innings work. The Highlanders used three relievers, the most effective of whom was junior LHP Matt Melody, who allowed two runs, but also struck out six in three innings. The four NJIT pitchers accumulated 12 strikeouts in the seven-inning game.

The hitting standout for Vermont was Milo, the designated hitter for game two, who was 3-for-5 with four RBI. Milo was on the brink of hitting for the cycle, hitting a triple in the first inning, a three-run home run in the second inning and an RBI double in the fourth, before falling short of the cycle by making outs his last two at-bats.

Duffy, the shortstop, also got three hits, while three other Catamounts got two hits apiece. OF Cory Moylan started Vermont's big five-run second inning with a towering one-out solo home run over the netting above the left field fence at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium and Massie, the third baseman who made some major league-caliber plays in the field also homered with a solo shot in the fifth inning.

NJIT's hitting leader in the second game was Turner, who finished 3-for-4 and scored two runs. He doubled, as did LF Craig Binkiewicz. NJIT got runs batted in from Binkiewicz, SS Miguel Lugo and Petrosino, the sophomore outfielder.

NJIT got single runs in the second, sixth and seventh innings.