UNION, NJ - After dropping game one of Friday's doubleheader, the NJIT baseball team erased an early six-run deficit in game two to split the twinbill with visiting Maine in America East Conference action at Jim Hynes Stadium.
NJIT has now won four of five and is 7-13 on the season with a 6-8 mark in AE play, while the Black Bears are 9-8 overall and 4-5 in conference games.
GAME ONE
Maine's Ryan Turanne belted a two-run home run in the second to put the Black Bears on the scoreboard first, before NJIT clawed back with a run in the third on a
Julio Marcano single and one more in the fourth courtesy of a double from
Albert Choi to tie the score 2-2 after four innings.
Both teams went down scoreless in the fifth, but the Black Bears were able to take the lead, and eventually break the game open, with a five run fifth inning. The visitors scored one more time in the seventh to make the final score 8-2 and end NJIT's three-game winning streak.
Choi and Marcano each paced the Highlanders' offense with two hits.
GAME TWO
Maine took the momentum into the second game, getting a three-run home run from Joe Bramanti in the first inning to go ahead early. The Black Bears added one more run in the second and two more in the third to go ahead 6-0 before the NJIT bats came to life.
The Highlanders cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third as Marcano scored a run on an RBI fielder's choice and
Matthew Cocciadiferro roped a two-run triple to make the score 6-3.
Another extra-base-hit from Bramanti, this time a two-run double, gave the Black Bears an 8-3 lead, but once again NJIT did not go away.
The Highlanders made the margin four, 8-4, with an RBI-single from
Nick Hussey and in the fifth, and then scored four more times in the sixth inning to tie the contest, 8-8. The four-run sixth was highlighted by an RBI-single from
Daniel Helfgott, a two-RBI double from Marcano, and then the game-tying, RBI-single off the bat of Cocciadiferro.
Maine took the lead one more time with an unearned run in the seventh, but Hussey scored on a wild pitch to tie the game in the home half of the inning and then
Kevin Putsky came up and hit a clutch, RBI-single to put the Highlanders ahead 10-9, a lead they'd hold on to this time.
While NJIT's season-high-tying 17 hits were a big part of the victory, the Highlanders' bullpen kept them in the game and helped preserve the victory and the doubleheader split.
Aidan Kidd,
Croix Jenkins and
Jake Rappaport allowed just one run over the final 4.2 innings after Maine had scored 14 over the previous 6.1. Jenkins earned the win to improve to 2-0 this season, while Rappaport picked up his America East-leading fifth save.
Choi continued his impressive weekend with a career-high-tying four hits, as Hussey and Helfgott each added three. Marcano and Cocciadiferro, who also made a game-saving play in right field to end a threat in the eighth inning, knocked in three runs apiece.
ON DECK
NJIT and Maine will wrap up their four-game series with another doubleheader on Saturday at Jim Hynes Stadium. First pitch of game one is slated for 11am.
