VIDEO: Rapid Reaction with Kevin Putsky

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Stony Brook, NY - The NJIT baseball team rallied from a three-run deficit and then held off Albany over the final two innings to earn a wild, 5-4 victory in the opening round of the 2021 America East Baseball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Joe Nathan Field at Stony Brook. 

The victory was the 25th of the season for the Highlanders and eighth in a row. Both are program records. 

NJIT's Tyler Stafflinger and Albany's Ray Weber proved why they are their team's respective aces, dueling early with the only runs in the first seven innings being three Albany unearned runs in the bottom of the third and a solo home run from Paul Franzoni in the top of the fifth.

The game remained 3-1 until the eighth inning when the Highlanders scored four runs in dramatic fashion.

After Weber retired the first two NJIT hitters, Albert Choi reached base via a bunt single, before Julio Marcano, who has hit clutch home run and after clutch home run this season, blasted a pitch well over the left field fence to tie the score, 3-3. The Highlanders weren't done there, however, as David Marcano followed up his brother's home run with a single and Matthew Cocciadiferro put NJIT in front for good with a home run deep to centerfield.

"We're just gritty baseball players," said Cocciadiferro, a fifth-year senior. "We dig deep. I never had a doubt that we were going to come back and win this game."

NJIT's closer, Jake Rappaport, took over for Stafflinger in the bottom of the eighth and gave up a solo home run in the inning to make the score 5-4. Just as he has done all season long, Rappaport was able to complete the save in the ninth inning thanks to a one-out strikeout with a runner on third and an unbelievable defensive play from Kevin Putsky in right field which ended the game. Putsky came into the game to play defense in the bottom of the eighth and tracked down a deep ball to end the eighth, but he saved his best for last, grabbing a foul ball over the fence to end the game.

"Shout out to Kevin (Putsky), he's one of our younger guys and to come in as a backup is tough," added Cocciadiferro. "But, we all have a ton of faith in him. He's not a backup in our eyes."

The NJIT dugout stormed the field to celebrate the win, which advanced the squad to tomorrow's winner's bracket final against Maine at 1:30pm back at Joe Nathan Field in Stony Brook.

Rappaport's save was the 10th of his career, a program record. Stafflinger didn't allow an earned run over seven innings of work to improve to 6-5 on the season and lower his ERA to 3.77. Over his last four starts, the fifth-year senior is 3-0 with 25 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.43.

Daniel Helfgott and Jared Donnelly each recorded to hits to pace the NJIT offense, while Choi extended his on-base streak to 32 games with a pair of walks and the aforementioned eighth inning single. Marcano's home run was his 10th of the season, which leads the America East, as do his 42 RBIs.

"I love these guys," concluded Cocciadiferro. "We're not here to prove anything to anyone. We're a good baseball team."