Box Score 1 | Box Score 2


TEANECK, NJ—It happened again. NJIT played its seventh 1-1 same-day, two-game split of the season and second of the weekend, as the Highlanders broke even against Fairleigh Dickinson Sunday. In the pair of seven-inning games played on FDU's Naimoli Family Baseball Complex, with the Highlanders serving as the "home team", Fairleigh won the opener, 3-2, and the Highlanders rebounded for a 5-2 victory in Game Two.
 
The Sunday doubleheader was originally scheduled to be played in Newark. But overnight rainfall Friday and Saturday prompted the switch to FDU's home Naimoli Family Baseball Complex, which is surfaced with artificial turf, making it more manageable in bad weather than the natural grass field in Newark's Riverfront Stadium.
 
On Saturday, also in Teaneck, the teams split a pair, with NJIT claiming a 9-1 win in the opener and FDU winning the nightcap, 12-4.
 
The weekend results left NJIT at 14-19 record on the season, while the Knights are 12-23. The teams met five times in 2014, with FDU winning three, the difference coming in an 11-8 win back on March 14 before this weekend's two doubleheader splits.
 
To date, NJIT had split five doubleheaders and also had two 1-1 days in tournaments, facing different teams on the same day. The Highlanders, who have five doubleheaders left on the schedule, also have one sweep in their favor and one in which they were swept to go with all the splits.
 
In Sunday's opening game, NJIT got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the second inning, but Fairleigh Dickinson scored twice in the top of the third to go up 2-1. NJIT re-tied the score with a run in the bottom half of that inning, but FDU scored what proved to be the winning run in the top of the fourth inning and finished with the 3-2 win.
 
In Game Two, NJIT got a run in the bottom of the first inning, but the Knights answered with a run in the next half-inning. The Highlanders went ahead to stay with two runs in the bottom of the second. Fairleigh trimmed the deficit back to one run in the top of the fifth inning, but NJIT responded with two in the bottom half for more breathing room in the Highlanders' 5-2 win.
 
Although the day produced just a split, the Highlanders got two strong complete-game efforts from their starting pitchers. Senior RHP DJ Roche (3-2) was the hard-luck loser in the opening game and freshman right-hander Alex Daniele (3-2) went the distance for the win, allowing one earned run in the 5-2 second game victory.
 
The Knights used five pitchers to win the opener, with the second reliever, junior RHP Anthony Calise (1-2), getting the win with one inning of scoreless relief. Junior right-hander Eric Snyder got the last four outs against NJIT to earn his team-leading fifth save for FDU.
 
In Game Two, Joe Borelli (1-1), a junior right-hander, started and took the loss for the Knights. Calise relieved him and pitched 1.2 more innings of one-hit scoreless ball in the defeat.
 
Game One recap
Roche, the redshirt senior, pitched his team-leading third complete game, but was hurt by issuing too many bases-on-balls (6 in 7 innings) and a crucial fielding mistake that resulted in FDU's third, and ultimately winning run, crossing the plate in the fourth inning. Roche allowed just four hits and struck out five in going the seven-inning distance.
 
The FDU starter, junior RHP John Chalupa, was denied the win when he exited an out shy of the requisite four innings a starter needs to get a win in a scheduled seven-inning game. He allowed just two hits, but walked four and hit two batters in his 3.2 innings.
 
Nick Cuono replaced Chalupa with two men on base and two outs in the fourth inning and retired the only batter he faced. Calise, credited with the win, worked around an error in his one otherwise spotless inning; and, Yonah Perline got two outs, but also allowed two hits and left with the potential tying run in scoring position before Snyder bailed him out. Snyder then finished off the save with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning.
 
Fairleigh's four hits against Roche came from four different men, with LF Ryan Brennan's crucial RBI triple with two out in the top of the fourth inning driving in the winning run. The other three Knight hits were singles.
 
Both NJIT runs scored on sacrifice flies, one by DH Stephan Halibej and one by C Scott Brosman. The Highlanders, who also got four total hits, had doubles from SS Bryan Haberstroh and 2B Rex MacMillan. The four hits all came from the bottom four in the NJIT batting order, with the first five in the order going a combined 0-for-13 in the defeat.
 
The Highlander run in the bottom of the second inning came in a one-out rally started by 1B Tom Bouck's pull single down the right field line. Haberstroh followed with a double into the right center field gap, pushing Bouck to third before he came in on Brosman's sacrifice fly.
 
FDU plated two runs in the top of the third, as two of the first three batters in the frame reached base and later executed a successful double-steal of second and third base, respectively. The first run came home on a fielder's choice RBI for C John Giakas and the second scored on a one-out single by DH Zach Tondi.
 
NJIT forged a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the third. With one out, RF Matt Weckerle was hit by a pitch for the fourth time in the series and 19th time this season. The senior was then successful stealing. 3B Mike Rampone walked and the two runners moved up a base on a passed ball. CF Ed Charlton then walked and Halibej's sacrifice fly drove in Weckerle for the 2-2 tie.
 
What became the winning run probably shouldn't have happened. SS Matt McCann led off the top of the fourth with a single and was sacrificed to second on a bunt. NJIT's Roche, who showed terrific moves all day, wheeled and picked McCann off second base for the second out, leaving no Knights on base. However, Roche ran into trouble, issuing a costly two-out pass to 2B Dylan Sprague.
 
LF Ryan Brennan then laced a sinking line drive into right field. Weckerle, the NJIT right fielder, would have been safe to concede a single and play Brennan's ball on one hop. Instead, Weckerle attempted a do-or-die diving catch in a bid for the third out. After his chest-first dive came up inches short, the ball rolled behind him, with Sprague racing around from first base to score the tie-breaking run as Brennan pulled into third, credited with a costly triple.
 
That was all the scoring against Roche and the Highlanders had four more innings of at-bats in a bid to get back a tying run. But they fell short, managing just two sixth-inning hits the rest of the way against the Fairleigh bullpen.
 
Game Two recap
Daniele, making his first appearance for the Highlanders in two weeks, scattered seven hits in his complete-game 5-2 win. He tied his season-low with three strikeouts, but kept the Knights off balance and induced 14 infield outs while notching his first college complete game.
 
The Highlanders scored three times in the opening two innings, staking Daniele to a 3-1 lead that never felt truly precarious.
 
With eight hits as a team, NJIT got two each from Weckerle and Bouck. Weckerle hit a double in his 2-for-3 game and Bouck's two-run laser shot over the right field fence to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the second inning was the game's turning point.
 
Bouck, who batted .359 in 2013 and drove in a combined 54 runs his first two seasons as a Highlander, has struggled for much of 2014, owning just a .171 average on April 6. Since then, he's hit in 10 of 11 games, including a combined 4-for-7 in three games against FDU this weekend. His average is now up to .222, its highest since February 23, when he was at .231 through the season's first three games.
 
The Highlanders got an unearned run in the first inning, after Weckerle, who had doubled with one out, stole third and came home when the catcher's throw on the steal sailed over the third baseman's head.
 
FDU, which went down quickly against Daniele in the opening inning, evened the score with an unearned run of its own in the top of the second.
 
The Highlanders came right back in the bottom half, as Haberstroh singled with one out and Bouck jumped on a pitch he drove so hard that it left the yard before the FDU right fielder could completely turn to see it sail over the fence.
 
The 3-1 NJIT lead held up through two scoreless innings for each team before the Knights picked up their second, and last, run in the top of the fifth inning. McCann led off with a single and stole second base before moving to third on a slow ground out. Daniele reached back and struck out FDU's Siebler looking, but Sprague singled sharply to right center field for an RBI, closing the score to 3-2.
 
NJIT added some insurance with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. MacMillan led off with a double and LF Teddy Bickert singled. Weckerle attempted a squeeze bunt, but it was hit too hard and MacMillan, breaking for home on the bunt, was caught in a rundown between home and third base. But Rampone singled to drive in one run and a second scored when Charlton's grounder up the middle produced an odd play. Looking like a standard 4-6-3 double play ball, it was fielded by the second baseman, who flipped to the shortstop, who then threw on to first to retire Charlton. However, the umpire ruled that the shortstop failed to touch second base on the force play, making Rampone safe as Weckerle scored from third..
 
Given the three-run cushion, Daniele took the win home, allowing one harmless hit in each of the final two innings.
 
The next scheduled game for NJIT is Wednesday at 3:30 pm against Wagner at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. The two teams have played three games so far this season, with Wagner prevailing twice.