ALBANY, NY–The NJIT baseball team registered a pair of wins, 9-1 in game one, behind a complete game from Ryan Fischer and an 8-6 victory in game two for an America East Conference doubleheader sweep at UAlbany Friday at Varsity Field.
The Highlanders have now won six of their last seven to even their record at 9-9 and are 4-1 in America East action. UAlbany drops to 11-8 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
Game One Recap | NJIT 9, UAlbany 1 (Final)
Ryan Fischer tossed a complete game, scattering five hits and allowing just one run over seven innings, while striking out six and not walking a batter.
Fischer and UAlbany starter Ray Weber kept the game scoreless through three innings before the Highlanders went up 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning on a pair of solo home runs from Julio Marcano and Andrew Elcock.
The Great Danes got a run back in the fifth, but Albert Choi was able to connect with David Marcano, who threw a perfect ball to Luke Longo to get the potential tying run at home plate and keep NJIT in front. This marked the second time of the game that NJIT was able to get a runner at the plate, as Kevin Putsky connected with Longo earlier in the contest to prevent the Great Danes from getting on the scoreboard.
Fischer cruised from their as the Highlanders broke the game open with three runs in the sixth inning and five more in the seventh.
Elcock finished 3-for-3 with four RBI and was also hit by a pitch.
Game Two Recap | NJIT 8, UAlbany 6 (Final)
The Highlanders' offense kept the momentum going in game two, scoring four runs in the first, two more in the second and one more in the third to jump out to an early 7-0 lead.
UAlbany got on the board and scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth and two in the fifth to cut the Highlander lead to two, 8-6, after five innings.
Both teams were held scoreless over the final four innings as NJIT's Evan Gegeckas pitched 3.2 innings, fanning seven Great Danes and NJIT's Jake Rappaport closed the door in the ninth, recording his second save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
Starting pitcher Grant Vurpillat recorded his third win of the season, moving to 3-1, pitching 4.1 innings and striking out eight batters.
David Marcano finished 2-for-5 with two RBI while Julio Marcano (0-for-3; RBI), Isiah Daubon (1-for-3; RBI) and Kevin Putsky (1-for-1; RBI) each recorded an RBI in the win in game two.
Up Next
The Highlanders and Great Danes will complete their series on Saturday. First pitch is slated for 11am back at Varsity Field.
