BRONX, NY - The NJIT baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader at Fordham on Sunday at Houlihan Park, falling 5-4 in 11 innings in game one, and 8-2 in seven innings in game two.
Fordham, which was picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 Conference, completed the three game sweep of the Highlanders to open their season, while NJIT is now 1-5 on the young season.Â
Game One
NJIT took the lead early in the opener when
Julio Marcano came around to score on a double off the bat of
Matthew Cocciadiferro in the top of the first.Â
The lead remained 1-0 until Fordham scored a pair of in the bottom of the third to go ahead 2-1.
The Highlanders rallied with three runs in the seventh on RBIs from
Andrew Elcock,
Albert Choi and
David Marcano and took a 4-2 lead into the home half of the inning.
Fordham tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh and eventually tied the game on a passed ball in the bottom of the ninth.
Neither team was able to score in the 10th, but the Rams won the game in the 11th on an RBI single to left center.
Cocciadiferro finished with a pair of hits to lead the NJIT offense, while Choi reached base three times, all via walks.
Croix Jenkins was impressive out of the bullpen for the Highlanders, tossing 3.1 innings and allowing just one run, while striking out two.
Andrew Eppinger pitched a scoreless 10th inning in his collegiate debut.Â
Game Two
Fordham scored the first four runs of the game and never looked back, leading by as many as seven before ultimately winning 8-2.
Julio Marcano and
Kyle Whitaker, who was playing in his first-career collegiate game, each tallied two hits apiece, while
Luke Longo and
Daniel Helfgott each recorded one.Â
Tyler Stafflinger struck out seven in five innings of work on the mound, while allowing three earned runs. He was relieved by
Drew Standen, who struck out two in one inning in his collegiate debut.
Up Next
NJIT will continue its season-opening road trip next weekend when it takes on fellow Essex County-foe Seton Hall. Game dates and times will be confirmed later in the week.
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