NEWARK, NJ—Maine extended its winning streak to seven and moved its season record a game over .500 with a doubleheader sweep of NJIT, 15-1 and 8-2, Saturday afternoon at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

Maine, with a long winning tradition in baseball, is 14-13 overall following back-to-back doubleheader sweeps of the Highlanders. The Black Bears, the preseason coaches' pick to win the America East Conference, are 11-3 against teams from the northeast and mid-Atlantic parts of the country.

On Saturday, Maine settled things early in the opening game, sending 17 men to the plate and scoring 13 runs in the third inning to claim a 15-0 lead. The Highlanders scored their only run in the bottom of the third and thanks to stellar work from freshman NJIT RHP Ian Wladika, who pitched 4.1 innings of two-hit shutout relief, the seven-inning game ended at 15-1 for the Black Bears.

Saturday's nightcap was not unlike its Friday counterpart between the teams. On Friday, Maine overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 and eventually moved ahead before breaking out with five runs in the seventh inning en route to an 11-4 win.

In the second game Saturday, NJIT freshman Kyle Burdi protected a 1-0 lead with four innings of no-hit pitching. Maine went ahead with two runs in the fifth and then, after NJIT pulled even in the bottom of the fifth, the Black Bears went back on top, 3-2, with a run in the sixth inning.

The score stayed at 3-2 for Maine through seven innings when the Black Bears put the game away with four runs (two earned) in the eighth inning and one more in the ninth for the 8-2 win.

In the first game, Maine used three pitchers who combined to scatter nine NJIT singles, while striking out eight and walking three. The Black Bears defense turned two double plays to help limit any damage and NJIT stranded 10 runners. The winning pitcher was starter Jeffrey Gibbs, who pitched the first four innings of the seven-inning game. He is 3-2.

The losing pitcher for NJIT was the starter, freshman LHP Austin McAuliffe (1-5). He retired the first five Maine batters, but then allowed a two-out double by 3B Tyler Patzalek, followed by a home run by LF Ian Leisenheimer in the second inning.

McAuliffe had allowed four runs when he got the second out in the third inning, but the third out was a long time coming. It took two more NJIT pitchers to finally get there, as Maine poured on nine additional runs. SS Tony Patane hit a two-run homer and C Joe Mercurio hit a three-run blast in the inning for the Black Bears.

Patane and Mercurio each had two hits in the game, as did Patzalek, and RF Matt Howard was 3-for-5. Mercurio drove in four runs and four different Black Bears added two RBI each.

Freshman LF Matt Petrone was the brightest light for NJIT's offense, getting three hits in three at-bats. Six other Highlanders got hits.

Each team posted 13 hits in the second game, but Maine's were more timely, producing eight runs to just two for the Highlanders.

NJIT's hits leader in the second game was freshman 1B Teddy Bickert, who batted leadoff and went 4-for-5. The Highlanders got two hits each from four players—CF Marc Prager, RF Anthony Caiola, C John Bouck, and 3B Jeff Peterson. Bouck and Peterson each had doubles.

For Maine, Leisenheimer was 3-for-5. while Howard, DH Myckie Lugbauer, and Patane all had two hits. Patane drove in three runs and Taylor Lewis and Mercurio each had two RBI.

Matt Jebb, the first of four Maine pitchers, got the win, upping his record to 1-3 with five innings that included 10 hits and two runs allowed.

Burdi (0-2) pitched six innings for NJIT, allowing six hits and three runs, with five strikeouts and three walks. The Highlanders used four relievers.

NJIT got three hits in the first two innings, but couldn't score. They finally broke through in the third inning. Peterson led off with a double and stayed at second base when Bickert followed with an infield single. The pair moved up a base on Prager's sacrifice bunt and Peterson scored on Petrone's RBI ground out.

Maine took the 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Michael Fransoso and an RBI double by Lewis.

The Highlanders got back even in the bottom half, as Bickert led off with single, Prager followed with a single and Petrone walked to load the bases, setting up a one-out sacrifice fly by 2B Matt Tomczyk.

Despite having two more men in scoring position, NJIT could not add any more runs and Maine made the Highlanders pay in the next half inning. With the score tied, 2-2, the Black Bears went on top to stay, scoring in the sixth inning when Patzalek and Leisenheimer each got one-out singles and, after an out, Patane drove home what proved to be the winning run with a single through the left side that plated Patzalek.

After a scoreless seventh inning, the Black Bears scored four times, highlighted by a leadoff triple for Lugbauer and a two-run single later in the inning by Mercurio.

NJIT, which is scheduled to open Great West Conference play next weekend with a four-game series at Houston Baptist, has two non-conference games scheduled during the week.

The Highlanders will visit Siena in Loudonville, NY, near Albany, on Tuesday at 4 pm, and then head south to Lawrenceville, NJ, for a single game at Rider on Wednesday at 3:30 pm.