NORFOLK, VA—The NJIT baseball team split its doubleheader at Norfolk State Sunday afternoon, falling in the opener, 16-0, but salvaging the split with a 9-2 victory in the nightcap.
 
With Sunday's split against the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference North champion Spartans, the NJIT Highlanders are 2-3 in the young season. Norfolk State is 1-5. The two teams are scheduled to play another doubleheader, with each game slated to go 7 innings, on Monday starting at 11 am.
 
In Sunday's first game, Norfolk State scored twice in the opening inning, did not score in the second, and then scored at least three in each of the subsequent four innings of at-bats.
 
The Spartans piled up 12 hits and 8 bases-on-balls against four NJIT pitchers, with sophomore starting pitcher Sean Lubreski (1-1) taking the loss after allowing five earned runs in 3.2 innings. No one was effective in relief for the Highlanders.
 
Redshirt senior LHP Matt Outman (1-0), the 2015 MEAC Pitcher of the Year, got his first 2016 win for Norfolk State with a 7-inning, complete-game, 6-hit shutout. He struck out 7 Highlanders and did not issue a walk.
 
Sophomore CF and leadoff batter Syeed Mahdi had 3 hits and scored 3 runs for the winners. His hits included a double and a home run. Mahdi and 1B Brian Beard each drove in 3 runs and RF Angel Rosario hit a home run and drove in 5 runs.
 
CF Jesse Uttendorfer and LF Evan Pietronico each went 2-for-3 in defeat for NJIT.
 
NJIT's ace senior LHP Ian Bentley (1-1) got the Highlanders back on track with a 7-inning, complete-game victory to lead NJIT's 9-2 win in the nightcap. He allowed 6 hits and struck out 9 with no walks in posting his 17th career victory, two behind all-time career leader Tripp Davis (Class of 2013).
 
SS Johnny Malatesta was 3-for-4, including a triple, with two runs scored and two driven in for the Highlanders. DH Stephan Halibej and 3B Brian Haberstroh each went 2-for-4 for NJIT and Haberstroh hit a home run, while Halibej doubled and drove in two runs.
 
Junior LHP Devin Hemmerich (0-1) started and was the losing pitcher for Norfolk State after allowing four earned runs in five innings. Senior DH Kyle Vaas was 2-for-2, with a double and triple.
 
NJIT opened the game with two runs in the top of the first inning and then had its only scoreless frame in the second. The Highlanders then tacked on runs in each of the ensuing innings, while Norfolk State reached Bentley for runs in the second and fourth innings.