Box Score 1 | Box Score 2


STATEN ISLAND, NY—Visiting NJIT was one out away from pulling off what would have been a feel-good baseball doubleheader sweep at Wagner Friday afternoon. Instead, the Seahawks scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game Two, salvaging a 3-2 walk-off win and split of the two games at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.
 
The Highlanders had taken the seven-inning opening game 5-0 behind a dominant complete-game, 5-hit, 9-strikeout shutout from redshirt senior right-hander DJ Roche (3-1).
 
And they had scored twice in the top of the eighth in the nine-inning second game to take a 2-1 lead. But Wagner's Trey Nicosia doubled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score at 2-2 and the game ended with the next batter, Vaughn Champion, who reached base on NJIT's only fielding error of the 16-inning twin bill, allowing the winning run to score from third base.
 
The split left NJIT with an 11-16 record, while Wagner is 10-23. The teams will get together again for the series rubber game, a 1 pm contest on Saturday at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
 
Game One recap
The Highlanders did not need a lot of offense to take the opener, as Roche tossed his second 7-inning complete-game shutout in his last three starts, lowering his season's earned run average to 3.35, best among the NJIT starting pitchers. Wagner stranded eight runners, none of whom got past second base against Roche.
 
The Highlanders snapped a scoreless tie with two runs in the top of the fifth inning and they added three runs for insurance in the top of the seventh.
 
NJIT banged out 11 hits in the seven innings—10 singles and the team-leading fourth triple of the year for RF Matt Weckerle, who, at 2-for-3, was one of a trio of Highlanders with two hits apiece. CF Ed Charlton and DH Stephan Halibej each went 2-for-4 in the opener.
 
The losing pitcher for Wagner was senior LHP Matt Morris (2-5), who took the loss after allowing 11 hits and 5 runs (4 earned) in 6.2 innings, with 6 strikeouts and a walk. RHP Steven Bloodworth got the last out for the Seahawks in relief.
 
3B John Lynn (2-for-3) was the only player with more than one of the five Wagner hits.
 
NJIT broke the scoreless tie with one out in the top of the fifth frame. LF Teddy Bickert (1-for-4) reached on an error and Weckerle followed with a triple, bringing his team-leading runs batted in total to 23. 3B Mike Rampone (1-for-3), up after Weckerle, drove him home with a single.
 
In the seventh, Bickert started the three-run rally with a one-out single. Weckerle put down a bunt single and after a second out, Charlton hit an RBI single. Halibej and 1B Tom Bouck then hit back-to-back singles to each drive in a run, pushing the NJIT lead to 5-0.
 
Game Two recap
Game Two was even more of a pitching duel than the opener was, with Wagner's senior RHP Ryan Casey putting up nothing but zeros for seven innings and NJIT's sophomore LHP Ian Bentley allowing just one run through his seven innings' work. Neither starting pitcher figured in the final decision, however.
 
Wagner had scored its lone run off of Bentley in the second inning, when LF Shaun Flynn (2-for-4) singled to begin the frame. Lynn walked and after two outs, which included a sacrifice bunt that advanced both runners, Nicosia, the junior center fielder, legged out an infield single that brought home Flynn with the game's first run.
 
The 1-0 lead held until NJIT's half of the eighth inning. Casey, the Wagner starter, was still in the game to begin the eighth, which opened with a Bickert single, followed by a Weckerle single. Bickert advanced to third base on the play and Weckerle took second on the throw in to third base.
 
Wagner sophomore right-hander Mike Adams entered and got a strikeout, but Charlton (1-for-3) doubled to right field, driving in Bickert and Weckerle with the tying and lead run, respectively. With another run in scoring position and just one out, Adams put out the fire by retiring the next two Highlanders.
 
Redshirt junior LHP Tyler Kapp took over for Bentley to begin the bottom of the eighth inning with a slender 2-1 lead. After an opening walk, he induced a double play and got the third out on another grounder.
 
NJIT went down 1-2-3 against Adams in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for the dramatics in the bottom half of the inning. Flynn led off with a single and pinch-runner Evan Fardella took the tying run to second base after a sacrifice bunt for Lynn. 1B Tommy Mazurkiewicz then singled, pushing the tying run to third base with one out.
 
Needing a strikeout or a shallow pop out, Kapp got the strikeout, creating a two-out, runners on the corners scenario for Nicosia, who doubled to left field, bringing home the tying run and sending Mazurkiewicz to third base with the potential winning run. Champion then hit the ball to shortstop, where it was misplayed, allowing the winning run to score.
 
Adams (1-2) got the win for his two innings that included one hit, a big one, the Charlton double that allowed two inherited runners to score. He did not have a walk or a strikeout. Casey, the starter, was credited with seven innings and charged with six hits and two runs, while fanning three and walking two.
 
Nicosia, who did not start Game One and came into the nightcap with eight career hits over two seasons plus this one, was 3-for-4, including the big double, the first extra-base hit of the junior's college career. Flynn was 2-for-4 to finish the day 3-for-6.
 
The loss in relief dropped NJIT's Kapp to 1-2 in 13 relief appearances. He worked 1.2 innings and allowed 3 hits and 2 runs (1 earned), with a strikeout and a walk.
 
The Highlander starter, Bentley, went seven innings and allowed five hits and the one run, with two walks and two strikeouts.
 
Six different Highlanders got hits in the nightcap, paced by Bickert's 2-for-4. Charlton (1-for-4) accounted for NJIT's only extra-base hit with his big two-run double in the eighth.
 
Charlton was 3-for-7 in Friday's two games and has his season average up to .228. A proven standout in his first two seasons for NJIT, the junior managed just four hits combined through his first 10 games in 2014, after which he was batting .111. Since then, he has hits in 11 of 12 games, going 14-for-43 (.326) in the span that includes 10 runs batted in.