Box Score 1 | Box Score 2


PRINCESS ANNE, MD—Sophomore left-hander Ian Bentley pitched a seven-inning, one-hit shutout, to lead visiting NJIT past Maryland Eastern Shore, 12-0 in the first game of Saturday's baseball doubleheader at UMES and the Highlanders took the nightcap, 5-2, in a rare game where all the runs on both sides were unearned.
 
The doubleheader sweep, which lifted NJIT's overall record 18-21, was just the second sweep by the Highlanders this season and the first since April 5, when they took a pair at New York Institute of Technology. Since then, the Highlanders had split six doubleheaders and also sustained their only winless doubleheader of the year at Sacred Heart (April 13). In total, NJIT has played nine 1-1 days in 2014, been swept once and now has won two sweeps.
 
UMES (13-33) has lost seven in a row and 10 of the last 12. Saturday's action was the regular season finale for the Hawks, who, on Tuesday, will begin play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament in Norfolk, VA.
 
Bentley's sixth win tied him with PJ Saporito (Class of 2009) and Tripp Davis (Class of 2013) for most wins in a season in NJIT's NCAA Division I era, which began with the 2007 season. Bentley is slated for one more 2014 start  when the Highlanders visit Niagara next weekend.
 
As a freshman in 2013, Bentley made 19 appearances, with one start and finished with a 3-2 record and a team-leading five saves, earning selection on the New Jersey Coaches' Division I All-Rookie team.
 
This year, he has a win and two saves out of the bullpen, but has been used exclusively as a starter since April 5. In six starts since, he is 5-0 with one no-decision. He has gone at least seven innings in each of the games since moving into the rotation. Saturday's game was his first shutout and his previous hits allowed low was five, which he did in three consecutive starts from April 5 through April 18.
 
Having lost eight other games off the schedule due to bad weather, NJIT was willingly rescheduled its doubleheader at UMES, which was originally scheduled as a four-game series in early March, but was postponed due to snow on the field.
 
With final exams underway, NJIT bussed trip to Princess Anne, 230 miles and four hours from Newark with little time to rest, as the team departed at 5 pm on Friday for the lengthy trip, with first pitch scheduled for noon on Saturday in Maryland. The Highlanders would then hop back on the bus and return to Newark, where they will face NYIT in a 1 pm doubleheader at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
 
One the other side, UMES had played a home MEAC doubleheader on Friday, hosting Delaware State.
 
Against that backdrop, Bentley's one-hitter and NJIT's 12-run, 14-hit attack took away all the stress from Game One. In Game Two, freshman right-hander Alex Daniele (4-3) gave the Highlanders another strong start, allowing a lone unearned run with seventh-inning help from junior Tyler Kapp, who also allowed an unearned run in polishing off the win with a three-strikeout seventh inning.
 
Game One recap
The only thing between Bentley and a no-hitter was a one-out single for Maryland Eastern Shore senior center fielder Stephen Bull, who had a hit in each game of the twin bill, giving him 64 on the season, six shy of the UMES school season record. The Hawks also managed a pair of walks against Bentley, who also struck out three.
 
The losing pitcher for the home team was the starter ,sophomore RHP Will Turley (1-6), who allowed four hits and three runs (one earned) in four innings. Three relievers combined to work the last three innings, allowing a combined nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits.
 
After a scoreless first inning, NJIT gave Bentley all he needed with a two-run second inning. The Highlanders added one in the fourth and then poured across nine runs in their final two half-innings at-bat (four in the sixth and five in the seventh).
 
With 14 hits as team, the Highlanders got three each from RF Matt Weckerle and SS Bryan Haberstroh. 3B Mike Rampone and CF Ed Charlton each went 2-for-4, with Charlton driving in a game-high four runs and Rampone joining !B Tom Bouck (1-for-2) with two RBI each. Weckerle, Rampone, and Charlton all registered doubles, while Bouck hit his third home run of the season, all of which have come since April 27.
 
2B Rex MacMillan picked up a run batted in on a single for NJIT's first run in the two-run second frame for the Highlanders; Rampone laced a two-out single in the fourth inning; Charlton's two-run double and Bouck's two-run homer keyed the four-run top of the sixth inning; and Rampone added an RBI double, Charlton knocked in two more with a single, and C Scott Brosman kept the scoring with an RBI single in the seventh inning.
 
After allowing his second walk with one out in the fifth inning, Bentley induced an inning-ending double play and then retired six of the next seven batters, with the only exception being a two-out NJIT fielding error in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
Game Two recap
Each team got eight hits—15 singles, plus a double by the Hawks' Bull—but NJIT managed to scored five unearned runs to two unearned runs for UMES.
 
The Highlanders plated two runs in the opening frame and added one more in the top of the fourth before Maryland Eastern Shore got its only run off of Daniele in the bottom of the fifth inning. The 3-1 score held until the seventh inning, when the Highlanders added two insurance markers in the top half and the Hawks nicked Kapp for a run in the bottom half.
 
NJIT, with eight singles, got most of them from the heart of the batting order, as the 3-4-5 men, Rampone, Charlton, and DH DJ Roche each delivered two hits apiece. Rampone and Charlton each scored twice and Charlton and Roche each drove in a run, as two of NJIT's five scores in the game were the result of runs batted in.
 
For Maryland Eastern Shore, C Justin Datillo and 1B Skylar Murray each had two hits, with Datillo driving in both UMES runs.
 
NJIT's starter, Daniele, scattered six hits and three walks, while striking out three in six innings. Kapp, the reliever, pitched one inning and allowed two hits without a walk to go with his three strikeouts,
 
Sophomore left-hander Jordan Bone (2-1) pitched a complete game in absorbing his first loss of 2014. He allowed the eight hits and five unearned runs, while walking two and striking out one.
 
Both NJIT runs in the first inning came home on a one-out single by Charlton that also included an error by the UMES left fielder, Brock Long. The play brought home LF Teddy Bickert and Rampone, each of whom had singled.
 
Charlton got things started in the fourth inning with a leadoff single and, after two outs, scored all the way from first base when Brosman singled and Brock made another error on the play.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore finally scored a run in the bottom of the fifth. Bull reached on a one-out error and then stole second, heading to third base on a second Highlander error on the steal attempt. He scored on Dattilo's ground out.
 
Leading 3-1, NJIT added a two-out, two-run rally in the top of the seventh inning, aided by the third Hawk error of the contest.
 
With two out, Rampone walked and the inning stayed alive when Charlton's batted ball was booted at third base, pushing Rampone ahead to second base. Roche then singled, plating one run, and pushing Charlton to third base, where he would score on a passed ball.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore SS Mike Escanilla opened the bottom of the seventh with a bunt single and headed to second base on a throwing error at first base on the bunt. Kapp then struck out Bull before Dattilo singled up the middle to bring Escanilla across the plate. Kapp then fanned the next two batters to lock down the NJIT sweep.
 
NJIT will host is final home games of 2014 on Sunday afternoon, entertaining New York Institute of Technology in a doubleheader starting at 1 pm at Riverfront Stadium. The game has been listed on NJIT's schedule for a noon start, but was pushed back an hour.
 
Sunday, in addition to being Mother's Day, is Senior Day for NJIT's nine seniors. There will be pregame ceremonies before Game One, starting at 12:40 pm, and more between games. The reason for the split ceremonies is that two of the senior for the Highlanders will be their starting pitchers in the twin bill, so the adjustment was made to avoid interfering with either of their pregame warmup routines. The nine seniors to be recognized are: Bickert, Bouck, Brosman, Matt Coughlin, Zach Emmett, Austin McAuliffe, Roche, Frank Shivers, and Weckerle. In an NJIT Senior Day tradition, the NYIT seniors will also be recognized before Game One.