HARRISONBURG, VA – NJIT baseball split their Saturday double-header with James Madison losing the first game 9-8 in a seven inning game and winning the second 11-5 in nine.

Game One
Starting the game for the Highlanders was RHP Bryan Haberstroh pitched two and third innings giving up three hits and four earned runs.

During game one the Highlander came back from a 4-0 deficit to take the lead in the fifth inning.

Starting off the five-run inning was 2B Tom Brady who was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a double down the left field line by C Brady Hall. With three consecutive singles from CF Jesse Uttendorfer, SS Justin Etts and LF Evan Pietronico, NJIT cut the Dukes lead in half.

Etts went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs while Pietronico went 2-for-4 with two runs and Uttendorfer added an RBI.

Colton Harlow pitched the first four innings for the Dukes, giving up six hits and five earned runs and was relieved by Matt Colon in the middle of the fifth.

With two outs and the score standing at 4-3 after an RBI groundout from Haberstroh, 1B Michael Anastasia hit a single to left field to score Pietronico and Etts for the 5-4 lead.

Sophomore Anastasia went 2-for-three with a team-leading three RBIs.

Colon would blank the Highlanders in the sixth and the Dukes took the lead back scoring two runs off a double by Brett Johnson. Johnson was 2-for-3 for JMU with one run and three RBIs.

Sophomore Etts started off the Highlander seventh with a home run to tie the score at 6-6. Pietronico reached on an error and RF Matthew Cocciadiferro was hit by a pitch before Kevin Kelly came in to relieve Colon.

In two innings Colon gave up two hits and three earned runs, with two strikeouts.

Winning pitcher Kelly's first batter Haberstroh walked, bringing up Anastasia who singled to right field to score Pietronico.

Up by one, NJIT's Brady popped up to first base scoring Haberstroh for the two-run lead going into the final half inning.

JMU came back and won on a walk off double by Adam Sisk, off LHP Aquib Ramkishun who had just relieved Rex MacMillan.

MacMillan, who earned the loss, pitched in 4.1 innings giving up six hit, only two earned runs, and three strikeouts.

Game Two
In the second game of the double-header that had an hour and a half rain delay in the second in, the Highlanders came out on top with seven different batters getting a hit.

The Highlanders took an early lead in the first, and never lost the lead throughout the nine inning game.

NJIT opened scoring in the first with RF Michael Anastasia adding another RBI to his Saturday, with an RBI single. DH Bryan Haberstroh also scored on the play due to a throwing error giving the Highlanders the early 2-0 lead.

Anastasia finished 2-for-5 in game two with one RBI while Haberstroh went 1-for2 with a pair of runs and a pair of RBIs.

Freshman Matthew Cocciadiferro came in as an early sub in the second and provided NJIT with another run, scoring 2B Tom Brady. Cocciadiferro would score later in the inning, advancing to third on LF Evan Pietronico's single, and then scoring on an error during the play giving the Highlanders a 5-0 lead.

Cocciadiferro went 2-for-3 scoring three runs and earned one RBI, while Pietronico got his only hit of the game during NJIT's three run second inning.

Sophomore Brady notched a game-high four hits going 4-for-5 and posted two runs and one RBI.

The Dukes accumulated five hits, two of them coming in the second inning to help JMU score two runs diminishing the Highlander lead.

The two runs would be the only ones charged to starting NJIT pitcher Chris Gibbons. Gibbons pitched four innings giving up three hits and fanning three of 12 batters faced.

No one scored again until the sixth inning, when the Highlanders padded their lead scoring three more runs and scored another in the seventh.

JMU tried to answer back in the bottom of the seventh scoring three runs to put them within four runs 9-5.

However the Highlanders added on two more safety runs in the ninth with RBIs from Haberstroh and Brady for the final 11-5 score.

James Sofield (1-0) earned the win for NJIT going 2.1 innings and giving up two hits and one earned run.

Junior John Saviano relieved Sofield pitching the last 2.2 innings giving up no hits and no runs securing the win for the Highlanders.

The Dukes threw six different arms with starter Cam Vassar (1-1) getting the loss, throwing 1.1 innings and giving up three hits and two earned runs.

NJIT and JMU conclude their weekend series tomorrow at 1pm.