Box Score


NEWARK, NJ—It's never good for a baseball team to finish with more fielding errors than hits and that was the case for NJIT in Tuesday night's 10-0 loss to visiting Binghamton at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

Shut out for the first time in 2014, NJIT's five hits Tuesday night matched its lowest total of the season. On top of that, the Highlanders committed six errors in the field, twice their worst total in any of the previous 16 games.
 
In a game that was added to the schedule a day earlier, Binghamton (6-13) broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the top of the fourth inning. They were all earned, but the tallies the Bearcats added in the fifth inning were unearned, as the visitors scored the pair without getting a hit, while NJIT made three of its errors.
 
Binghamton got a hit and three walks in scoring twice in the top of eighth inning, as each run crossed the plate on two bases-loaded walks. Both were unearned due to an error, NJIT's sixth, earlier in the inning. The winners tacked on three more runs, all earned, in the ninth inning.
 
Binghamton's starter, sophomore RHP Jake Cryts (2-3) was credited with the win after allowing two hits and a walk while striking out four Highlanders in three innings. He was named the winner under NCAA official scoring rules that waive the normal requirement that a starting pitcher must complete five innings to earn a win, as long as he is on a pre-announced pitch or innings limit. Such arrangements are common in weekday games.
 
After Cryts, Binghamton used a procession five relievers, who combined to yield three more hits and over the final six innings of the combined shutout. As a staff, the six Bearcats allowed five hits, all singles, while striking out 10 and walking three with one hit-by-pitch.
 
For NJIT, the loss went to starter Alex Daniele (1-1), who was charged with four hits and five runs (three earned) in five innings, with five strikeouts and no walks. The Highlanders used four other pitchers and LHP Tyler Kapp, the first reliever, pitched two innings and retired all six batters he faced. Ian Bentley retired the one batter he faced, while Austin McAuliffe allowed two unearned runs in two-thirds of an inning that saw him yield a hit and three walks while getting his two outs on strikeouts. Freshman Brian Sondergard, who finished up, working the ninth inning, allowed three runs on three hits, a walk, and two hit-by-pitch.
 
Binghamton, which had eight hits in its first game action since March 23, was paced at the plate by senior 2B Daniel Nevares, who want 3-for-4 and drove in a run. The other five Bearcat hits came from five different men, including substitute first baseman Brian Ruby, who had the game's only extra-base hit, doubling home two runs in the ninth inning on his only at-bat of the night.
 
Binghamton designated hitter Brendan Skidmore was hitless in three at-bats, but hit two sacrifice flies to bring home a pair of runs. Also getting two RBI was LF Jake Thomas (1-for-4). Nevares and Thomas, the third and fourth hitters in the Binghamton batting order, respectively, each scored three runs.
 
NJIT (6-11) had five singles in being shut out for the first time this season, but lack of offense did no harm through three innings with  Daniele dominating on the mound. For three innings, he held Binghamton hitless while fanning five Bearcats, including one for the third out of the third inning. The swinging strikeout stranded a baserunner on third base after he had reached second base on an errant throw after hitting a swinging bunt and then moved to third on another error, a failed pickoff try by Daniele that sailed into center field when second base wasn't completely covered by either of the middle infielders.
 
After Daniele blanked them through three innings, the Bearcats broke out with three runs in the top of the fourth inning. CF Bill Bereszniewicz and Nevares opened the frame with back-to-back singles to center field. They both moved up on a wild pitch and Thomas hit a chopper through the right side for a two-run single.
 
Thomas, who went to second on the throw in from the outfield, moved ahead a base when Reed Gamache's bloop dunked just in front of NJIT's diving right fielder Matt Weckerle. Thomas then scored from third base on Skidmore's first sacrifice fly.
 
The Bearcats added a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fifth in a half-inning that included three NJIT errors, bringing the five-inning total to five miscues for the Highalanders. Binghamton, which scored the two runs without benefit of a hit, got one of the markers on a Nevares sacrifice fly.
 
After two more scoreless frames, Binghamton tacked two unearned runs onto its lead in the top of the eighth with both runs crossing the plate on two-out based-loaded walks. One free-pass RBI went to SS John Howell and the second went to 3B David Schanz.
 
The Bearcats closed out their hitting day with three runs in the top of the ninth with two scoring on Ruby's double to right center field and Skidmore hit his second sacrifice fly to bring in the third run of the frame.
 
Earlier, with the game scoreless in the bottom of the third inning, NJIT got two of its first three batters on base with a leadoff single by 2B Rex MacMillan and a one-out single for LF Teddy Bickert. But the Highlanders couldn't do anything with that scoring chance and Binghamton seized the upper hand in the next half-inning.
 
After falling behind on Binghamton's three-run top of the fourth inning, NJIT went hitless from CF Ed Charlton's leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth through Mike Rampone's two-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning. In that span of 16 plate appearance between hits, NJIT got three men on base (two walks, hit-by-pitch) against a quartet of Bearcat relievers.
 
Charlton finished 1-for-3 plus a walk and Rampone was 1-for-3 plus a hit-by-pitch.
 
The next scheduled action for the Highlanders is a three-game weekend series on Long Island at New York Institute of Technology. The series opens in Old Westbury, NY, with a doubleheader on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for noon.