Box Score 1 | Box Score 2



NEWARK, NJ—Ed Charlton lifted the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh inning over the left wall, simultaneously lifting NJIT to a dramatic 5-4 walk-off victory in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon against University at Albany at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. Visiting UAlbany scored 10 runs in the last two innings of the opener, including eight in the seventh inning to notch an 11-1 victory in another seven-inning contest that appeared winnable for either team through six innings.
 
The Great Danes, who halted an 11-game losing skid when they took Saturday's opening game, ended the day with an 8-28 record on the season.
 
NJIT (15-20) has posted a remarkable eight 1-1 two-game days this season after splitting Saturday's pair with UAlbany. The Highlanders have six conventional doubleheader splits and they also have two 1-1 days in tournaments, during which they faced two different teams. NJIT has one doubleheader sweep and was swept once, as well.

Saturday's doubleheader was played in what for 2014 has been rare, beautiful weather. With a free barbecue buffet and valuable prizes raffled off throughout the two games, plus a strong contingent of visiting UAlbany fans, the games drew a large crowd of over 500. The NJIT Student Senate joined Athletics to sponsor the day, which included high-end electronics, official NJIT athletics apparel, and round-trip air fare among the awarded prizes.
 
The Highlanders and Great Danes are scheduled to play two seven-inning games again on Sunday, with a noon start at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
 
The opening game Saturday was a pitchers' duel, certainly through five innings, after which UAlbany led, 1-0, and pretty much through six frames, which ended with the visitors up, 3-0. But the Highlander bullpen unraveled in the seventh, surrendering eight runs on just four hits, although one was a two-run homer. The disastrous frame included three straight batters hit-by-pitch, plus two bases-loaded walks and an error.
 
NJIT, down 11-0, got on the board when 1B Tom Bouck led off the bottom of the seventh inning with an opposite field home run over the left field fence.
 
Having had a close game come undone late in the opener, NJIT built a 4-0 advantage through five innings of the nightcap, only to see UAlbany tie with two runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh against Highlander sophomore LHP Ian Bentley (5-3), who battled some tough luck when the visitors knotted the score in the seventh.
 
But Charlton, a junior who struggled for hits early in 2014, provided the latest heroics in his 20-game revival, hammering UAlbany reliever Sam DeCelle's first pitch of the final frame for a no-doubt-about-it walk-off blast into the netting above the left field fence.


 
Game One recap
UAlbany got a run in the top of the first inning and the score stayed at 1-0 until the top of the sixth inning, when the Great Danes tacked on two runs. Then what had been a pitchers' duel, came apart for NJIT, tuning into a rout when the visitors poured eight runs across the plate in the top of the seventh inning.
 
The winning pitcher, Kevin Archbold (2-3) was dominant for much of his completegame for UAlbany. Archbold finished having allowed five hits and a run on the Bouck shot for the Highlanders that spoiled a shutout bid in the last half-inning The lanky 6-foot-6 lefty Archbold, who was observed by professional scouts in attendance, struck out nine and walked three.
 
NJIT senior RHP Matt Coughlin (1-4) took the loss despite a solid starting effort that saw him charged with two runs (one earned) in 5.1 innings. He yielded four hits and two walks, while also hitting a batter and striking out two.
 
Three Highlander relievers combined to allow nine runs on five hits, two walks and five hit-by-pitch, two in UAlbany's two-run sixth inning and three more in the eight-run top of the seventh.
 
With nine total hits in Game One, the Great Danes got two apiece from their 3-4-5 batters, C Evan Harasta, RF Josh Nethaway, and 1B Craig Lepre. Nethaway, who would homer once in each game, drove in two of his game-leading three runs batted in on a two-run shot over the left field fence that ignited the Great Danes' eight-run seventh inning. His home run was the only extra-base hit for the Game One winners.
 
NJIT's five hits came from five different players, including the Bouck home run and a double for RF Matt Weckerle (1-for-2).
 
UAlbany got on the board with two outs in the top of the first inning on a run-scoring single by Lepre. Back-to-back one-out walks, two of Coughlin's three free passes for the day, helped set up the run. After the two walks, Nethaway hit a fly out that allowed DH Brian Bullard, who had walked and moved to second on another walk, to reach third base. Lepre then singled to drive in Bullard.
 
The Great Danes left the bases loaded in the third inning, but the score stayed at 1-0 until the top of the sixth. With one out, Lepre singled, prompting a call to the NJIT bullpen for junior LHP Tyler Kapp, who came in with a 2.21 earned run average in 14 previous appearances, but was off his form on Saturday. A wild pitch allowed pinch runner Cory Kingston to move up a base to second, a single put runners on first and third and Kingston scored on a passed ball. Later, Kapp had trouble fielding a bases-loaded bunt and was charged with an error as the second run of the frame crossed the plate.
 
The woes carried over into the top of the seventh, when Harasta led off with a single and Nethaway launched his two-run homer, setting off the eight-run top of the seventh for UAlbany.
 
Game Two recap
Bentley, who was a swingman starter/reliever as a freshman in 2013 and continued in that role earlier this season, took his fifth consecutive start and sixth of the season overall. The left-hander is 4-0 in his last five starts, plus a no-decision in which he allowed just one run in seven innings.
 
With five victories on the season, Bentley is one shy of the school Division I record, first set by PJ Saporito (Class of 2009) in 2007, NJIT's first season of Division I competition. In 2011, Tripp Davis (Class of 2013) won five en route his DI program-best 19 career wins.
 
The sophomore lefty Bentley needed some help to claim his team-best fifth win of 2014. After shutting out Albany for five innings, he allowed back-to-back solo shots to UAlbany's Harasta and Nethaway opening the sixth inning, but still held a 4-2 lead in the middle of the sixth inning.
 
NJIT did not score in the bottom half, opening the door for the Great Danes to knot the score with two runs in the top of the seventh inning. With one out, CF Alex Lushkevich drew Bentley's only walk of the day. Bullard then doubled down the left field line, advancing Lushkevich to third base and putting the potential third and fourth runs in scoring position with one out.
 
Harasta then hit a slow chopper toward third base, where NJIT's Mike Rampone, charging in, made a do-or-die lunging stab, but could not get a clean handle on the roller, which went into the books as an RBI single. Bullard advanced from second to third on the Harasta chopper and then scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Nethaway just short of the left-field warning track.
 
Having seen the score tied for the first time in the top of the seventh, Charlton, who finished the game 3-for-4, untied it with his walk-off home run off of sophomore reliever Sam DeCelle, a left-hander who fell to 1-2 on the season with 1.2 innings and one run allowed, while striking out one and walking three in the sixth inning after coming on in the fifth with one out and one run in. UAlbany starter Ryan Stinar lasted 4.1 innings and allowed the first four NJIT runs on six hits and four walks, with two strikeouts.
 
NJIT's Bentley got the win with a line of: 7 innings, 10 hits, 4 runs, 3 strikeouts and a walk.
 
Charlton, the batting hero, was 1-for-3 in the opening game for a doubleheader total of 4-for-7. His three-hit game in the walk-off win this season and second the last two weekends.
 
The junior who was New Jersey Division I Rookie of the Year in 2012 and a second-team All-Great West Conference honoree in 2013, had 23 doubles, six triples, five home runs and 54 runs batted in his first two college seasons combined.
 
He opened 2014 with a 1-for-3 day against Central Arkansas in late February, but didn't return to the lineup until March 15. From nearly two weeks, he struggled, as his batting average plunged to a season-worst .111 through 10 games. Since then, Charlton has hit safely in 15 of 20 games, raising his average to .243, the highest it's been that .333 on opening day. He has 20 of his 23 overall RBI in the last 20 games.
 
In Saturday's nightcap, NJIT's other five hits came from five different batters, including a double for designated hitter DJ Roche (1-for-2, RBI).
 
Freshman 2B Rex MacMillan (1-for-3) drove in two runs for the Highlanders, who also got an RBI on a home run by LF Teddy Bickert, his second of the year.
 
Bullard and Harasta each went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs apiece in Game Two for UAlbany. Nethaway was a combined 3-for-7, including one homer in each game, while knocking in five. Harasta was 4-for-7 with three RBI in the doubleheader.
 
NJIT built its 4-0 lead with two runs in the second inning, another in the third, and a fourth in the bottom of the fifth inning.
 
Charlton opened the bottom of the second by singling up the middle before reaching second base on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, Bouck walked, and then after the second out of the inning, another wild pitch by UAlbany's Stinar, moved the two runners into scoring position. C Scott Brosman walked to load the bases and MacMillan laced a two-run, two-out single.
 
A freshman who had an adjustment period at the plate to begin his college career, MacMillan stretched his season-best hitting streak to six consecutive games with the two-run single. He has hits in nine of the last 11 games.
 
The Highlanders mounted a two-out rally in the third for their third run. Following a pair of infield ground outs, Charlton reached on an infield hit. Roche then doubled into the gap, but was out at third base. Charlton, running on the pitch, scored easily from first base before the Great Danes could register the third out on Roche.
 
Bickert led off the bottom of the fifth inning with his fifth career home run. After that, NJIT loaded the bases with two out, but didn't score, setting the scene for UAlbany's four runs to tie and then Charlton's walk-off homer to win.