ALBANY, NY—A day after dropping both ends of a Saturday baseball doubleheader against vs. NJIT, UAlbany came back to edge the visiting Highlanders twice on Sunday, 7-6 and 5-3, in a pair of seven-inning games.
 
After the split of the four-game weekend series, UAlbany is 9-12, while the Highlanders drop to 15-11-1.
 
NJIT, which never trailed at any point in its winning sweep on Saturday, had the table turned in Sunday's opener. The Highlanders scored first with a run in the opening inning, but then fell behind 6-1 after three innings. Spending the rest of the game trying to catch up, NJIT closed to within a run of the lead and had the potential tying run on base in the last inning before coming up short, 7-6.
 
In the nightcap, the Highlanders built a 3-0 advantage through three innings, but couldn't hold off the Great Danes, who rallied for two runs in the fourth inning and three runs in the fifth, while holding NJIT scoreless over the last four frames of a 5-3 victory.
 
Senior RHP Matt Gallup (1-1) started and got the victory for the Great Danes in Game One after pitching five innings and allowing two runs on four hits. Lefty grad student Daniel Castro ran into trouble as the first reliever, allowing two runs without recording an out, but senior Joey Moore picked up his second save after allowing four hits and two runs in two innings, but preventing NJIT from completing its late comeback.
 
Freshman RHP Sean Lubreski (2-2) started and took the loss for the Highlanders. He was charged with 10 hits and six runs in four innings. Classmate Brent Jones allowed a run over the last two innings.
 
In the second game, junior RHP Terry Dugdale (1-1) got the win for UAlbany with three innings of scoreless relief. He came on for starter Michael Adams who yielded all three NJIT runs.
 
The pitcher of record on the short side was NJIT reliever Tyler Kapp (0-1), who finally had a rough outing after 10 near-untouchable previous relief appearances. Kapp allowed three runs in 1.1 innings on Sunday, less than 24 hours after recording his team-best sixth saves against UAlbany on Saturday.
 
Kapp, who came into Sunday with six consecutive scoreless appearances, had allowed three earned runs in 24.1 innings pitched over his first 10 outings. Even with Sunday's rough patch, his season's earned run average remains low (2.10).
 
Kapp relieved the Highlander starter, freshman RHP Johnny Malatesta, who surrendered two runs in 3.2 innings Sunday. Malatesta, who allowed four hits, matched his career-high in strikeouts, with six, but also equaled his high for walks, with four. John Saviano, another freshman finished the game for NJIT with a scoreless inning of relief.
 
UAlbany piled up 13 hits in Sunday's opening game, but only one, a double by RF Eric Mueller (2-for-3, 3 RBI) went for extra bases. SS Trevor DeMerritt (3-for-4) and 2B Adam Mund (3-for-3) were the hits leaders for the Great Danes, who also got two hits each from Mueller, 3B Matt Hinchy, and LF Alex Lushkevich,
 
For NJIT, RF Jesse Uttendorfer, C Stephan Halibej, and LF Matt McKinnon all had two hits each. Halibej's hits were a double and triple. Uttendorfer and DH Evan Pietronico each drove in a pair of runs for the Highlanders.
 
The Highlanders took their early 1-0 lead after Uttendorfer led off the game with a single and later came home on a sacrifice fly by SS Bryan Haberstroh.
 
The lead didn't last, however, as the Great Danes went up 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning, with the tying run scoring on Mueller's single up the middle and Mueller scoring the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.
 
The Great Danes took control with four runs in the bottom of the third inning on a rally that started with two out and no one on base. DeMerritt sparked it with a two-out infield single and Lushkevich, Mueller, and Mund all got runs batted in, with another run coming in on another NJIT wild pitch.
 
NJIT began the climb back in the fourth inning, which Halibej led off with a triple. He then scored on a ball hit to the middle of the infield.
 
Still trailing, 6-2 through five innings, the Highlanders drew closer with a pair of runs in the sixth, with both scoring on Uttendorfer's two-out single.
 
With the lead trimmed to 6-4, UAlbany added what would be a critical run in the bottom of the sixth inning on Mueller's sacrifice fly.
 
Down to their last out in the top of the seventh inning, the Highlanders got a single from Haberstroh, who came around when the next batter, Halibej, doubled to right field. Pietronico then singled to bring home Halibej, but UAlbany's Moore finally got the last out, stranding Pietronico on first base.
 
The getaway game began well for the Highlanders, who got a two-run single in the second inning from C Cody Kramer (1-for-3) and then a leadoff home run from CF Ed Charlton (3-for-4, double, home run) to begin the third inning. Unfortunately for NJIT, the Highlanders would manage just two hits for the rest of the game after Charlton's team-leading sixth homer of the season.
 
UAlbany had eight hits in the nightcap, two from Mueller (2-for-3), who was 5-for-6 in the two Sunday games. DeMerritt (1-for-3) added a triple and drove in three of the home team's five runs in the comeback win.
 
Trailing 3-0 after the Charlton home run for the Highlanders, UAlbany got two runs in fourth inning on a two-out, two-run single by C Brendan Behan.
 
DeMerritt hit a bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the fifth inning off of NJIT's Kapp, flipping the score in UAlbany's favor, 5-3.
 
After a scoreless sixth inning for both teams, NJIT's Charlton doubled with two outs in the top of the seventh, but UAlbany's Dugdale sealed the win with a game-ending strikeout.
 
NJIT is off until Friday, when it begins another four-game weekend series, this one against Wagner. The series will be played in both Newark and Staten Island, NY. Friday night's game is a 6 pm start in Newark at Riverfront Stadium. The teams will shift to Staten Island and Richmond County Bank Ballpark for an afternoon doubleheader on Saturday and then return to Newark for a 1 pm game on Sunday at Riverfront Stadium.