HAMDEN, CT--It came down to the last game of the 2015 baseball season for NJIT, but when the visiting Highlanders blasted Quinnipiac, 13-7, in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader, they secured a winning season record in baseball for the first time at the NCAA Division I level.
 
NJIT lost Saturday's opening game just as decisively as it won the getaway game and the 11-6 loss in Game One dropped the Highlanders to 23-23-1, putting them in jeopardy of dropping under .500 for the first time since a 5-3 loss at Rutgers on March 24 left NJIT with a 6-7 mark.
 
But senior 1B Ed Charlton himself a lifelong memory for his final college game, getting three hits, including a bases-loaded triple and a two-run homer. Charlton also drew a pair of walks in the nightcap and led the game with five runs batted in.
 
Charlton was not alone in his second-game batting heroics, as sophomore C Cody Kramer went 4-for-4, including a pair of doubles. Kramer's classmates, SS Bryan Haberstroh (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) and 2B Rex MacMillan (2-for-3, 3 RBI) also came up big at the plate.
 
On the mound, freshman RHP John Saviano (1-1) made his third college start and earned his first college win, going 4.1 innings and allowing two earned runs (three overall). Fellow freshman Tommy Derer finished off the win by tossing the last 2.2 innings.
 
NJIT completes its season with a record of 24-23-1. Quinnipiac, which also completed its regular season, is 27-26. The Bobcats will continue in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference postseason tournament later this week.
 
Saturday's doubleheader split was the eighth this season for the Highlanders, who swept four doubleheaders and were swept by their opponents three other times.

Game One
Quinnipiac put NJIT behind the 8-ball quickly in the opener, pouring seven runs across the plate in the bottom of the second inning and adding two more an inning later for a 9-0 lead.
 
The Highlanders made things interesting with a run in the fourth inning and then five more in the sixth to close the gap to 9-6. But the Bobcats added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth and won the seven-inning game 11-6.
 
Wyatt Hamilton (2-3) was the starting and winning pitcher for Quinnipiac after he allowed a run in five innings. Reliever Mike Davis allowed five NJIT runs on just one hit in two innings and Gary Binkiewicz finished off with a 1-2-3 final inning for QU.
Freshman RHP Johnny Malatesta (5-5) took the loss for NJIT in his shortest outing of the season (1.2 innings). Nonetheless, his five wins are tied with fellow rookie Sean Lubreski (5-4) for the most wins in a season by a Highlander freshman in Division I competition.
 
Malatesta was the first of four Highlander pitchers in the opening game and another freshman, James Sofield, was the only one of the four with a clean line next two his name in the box score, as he worked a scoreless fifth inning.
 
Redshirt freshman CF Jesse Uttendorfer  was the hitting leader for NJIT in the opening game, as he went 2-for-3, including a double and his first college home run. He finished with the highest batting average on the team (.320), just ahead of Charlton (.319), and Mike Rampone (.317).
Quinnipiac pounded out 16 hits in the opener. Including four doubles. SS Matthew Batten, C Louis Iannotti, and RF Robert Pescitelli all had three hits each for the winning team.
 
Pescitelli had two of his hits in Quinnipiac's big seven-run second inning. One of the hits was a two-run double. Batten and Iannotti each had run-scoring hits in the frame, as well.

Uttendorfer's three-run home run was the only high for NJIT in its five-run sixth inning.
 
Game Two
The Highlanders' 13 runs in the season finale were exceeded this season only by the 14 runs they put on the scoreboard in early April against New York Institute of Technology.
 
In Saturday's second game, NJIT scored twice in each of the first two innings and added a run in the top of the third for a 5-0 advantage midway through the third inning. Quinnipiac plated two runs in the bottom half, but the Highlanders broke loose for seven runs and a commanding 12-2 lead in the fifth inning. The Bobcats scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, but NJIT got it back in the next half-inning.
 
Much as NJIT had scored five in the next-to-last inning of the opener after it had trailed 9-1. Quinnipiac scored four times in the last inning of the nightcap, by which time the Bobcats trailed 13-3.
 
Charlton had a walk and a stolen base in NJIT's two-run opening inning of Game Two and his two-run homer came in the second inning. The blast was his team-best ninth on the season.
 
Kramer doubled home NJIT's run in the third inning. He was 1-for-2 in Saturday's opener before the 4-for-4 in the finale. He was 2-for-2 in Friday's second game, meaning he was a combined 7-for-8 in the last three games.
 
In the seven-run fifth inning for the Highlanders, MacMillan hit a two-run single, Charlton tripled with the bases loaded for three more runs, Rampone had an RBI ground out and Haberstroh hit a solo home run. It was Haberstroh's sixth home run of 2015.
 
While NJIT's Saviano was the winning pitcher, Quinnipiac starter Justin Thomas (4-3) took the loss. He was the first of five pitchers in the game for the Bobcats.
 
Quinnipiac had 10 hits, with three batters getting two apiece.
 
NJIT TEAM LEADERS
As mentioned earlier, Uttendorfer won the close race for top batting average at .320. Charlton was second in that column (.319) and in doubles (14), one behind Habestroh's 15.
 
Charlton tied his classmate, Rampone, with 60 hits and Charlton paced NJIT in triples (3), home runs (9), runs batted in (38), and runs scored (46, 10 more than the next player), He was also 15-for-17 in stolen bases, second to Uttendorfer's 17-for-20.
 
Ian Bentley (7-4) led NJIT in wins and complete games (7), as well as innings pitched (76.1). His 3.42 earned run average was best among the team's starters. His 70 strikeouts also led the team and he paired that total with just 17 bases-on-balls.
 
Senior Tyler Kapp was the saves leader with seven and also posted a win.
Freshman Tommy Derer, despite a rocky stat line in the finale, led NJIT with a 2.17 ERA in 29 relief innings and fellow freshmen Malatesta and Lubreski each won five games.

CHARLTON and RAMPONE
NJIT's two senior position players left their names all over the school record books.
 
Rampone, whose baseball style shows traces of the football/wrestling star he was in high school, ended his career with 197 games played and 197 games started, both school records.
 
His career-best .317 average as a senior left him with a .295 career average in 753 college at-bats. His 222 career hits are a school record and he also scored 130 runs and hit 47 doubles, three triples and nine home runs, while producing 102 RBI. With 87 career walks and 16 hit-by-pitch, his on-base percentage was an impressive .377.
 
Charlton's career-best .319 batting average in 2015 pushed his career average to .303. He finished with 214 career hits, second all-time to Rampone, with 45 doubles, nine triples, 18 home runs (half of which came in his senior year), 127 RBI and 136 runs scored. He finished with 49 stolen bases, a career on-base percentage of .383 (.405 as a senior) and a slugging percentage of .468 (.569 as a senior).