April 5, 2008

Box Score

ORONO, ME - NJIT held a 3-1 lead until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Maine scored five runs and then poured on nine more tallies in the final two innings for a 15-3 victory over visiting NJIT Saturday night.

1B Myckie Lugbauer finished 3-for-5 for Maine, while three of his teammates collected two hits apiece.

NJIT's tri-captain Matt Schlitter drove in two runs in the top of the fifth, singling to left field. 3B Rich Nazario drove in the Highlanders first run in the top of the second with a single to center field.

Pinch hitters Ricky Petrosino and Tyler Hamilton each hit 1-for-1, recording a single to left field in the top of the ninth inning. Two other Highlanders posted hits - Rob Pietrocola and senior 2B Dan Morogiello.

NJIT LHP PJ Saporito took the loss (1-6) pitching 5.1 innings while striking out four.

Saporito held Maine to one hit and one run, while working around two errors in the first four innings, before yielding two hits, but no runs in the fifth.

Curt Smith led off the Black Bear sixth inning with a home run and Mark Ostrander soon powered a two-run homer to give Maine a 4-3 lead it would not relinquish.

The home team added on 11 runs against the NJIT bullpen the rest of the way.

Kyle Benoit (2-0), the second Maine pitcher, shut out the Highlanders in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to earn the win.

NJIT returns to action on Sunday facing New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) at 10 am and then Maine at 2 pm.