DAVIDSON, NC - The NJIT baseball team used strong pitching and strong offense in the middle innings for its first win of the season on Saturday, defeating Davidson 12-4 to even the series at one apiece at Wilson Field.
Aidan Kidd started on the mound for NJIT and put together one of the best starts of his young career, striking out nine over five scoreless innings while not allowing a hit.
It took a few innings, but the Highlanders got the offense going with a pair of runs off of Preseason All-American Ryan Feczko in the third inning.
Kevin Putsky singled home the first run and NJIT took advantage of a Davidson error to go ahead 2-0 against Feczko, who finished last season a perfect 10-0 with a 3.21 ERA.
Albert Choi broke the game open an inning later, crushing his first home run of the season - a three-run shot over the left field fence to score
Jared Donnelly and
Ty Sallie.
The NJIT offense stayed hot in the fifth inning, adding two more runs as
Brett Helmkamp singled home
Andrew Eppinger and
Dillon Can scored Donnelly for the first RBI of his career.
The Highlanders all but put the game away with a five-run sixth inning to go ahead 12-0. Eppinger plated the first run of the sixth with a bases loaded walk and Donnelly made it 9-0 when he scored
Luke Longo on a single. Can then knocked in a pair of runs with a single and Choi recorded his fourth RBI of the game to score NJIT's final run of the afternoon.
Davidson scored four runs in the seventh, but that was as close as the Wildcats got as the Highlanders held on for the 12-4 victory to get into the win column for the first time this season.
Donnelly was 3-for-4, while Choi and Can each had two-hit games. Nine different Highlanders had at least one hit on Saturday, including Sallie, who also walked three times.
Kidd's nine strikeouts were one off his career-high of 10, which came in last season's America East Tournament victory over UMBC.
Drew Standen and
Brandon Peterson each pitched scoreless innings out of the bullpen for NJIT. Peterson's scoreless frame marked his collegiate debut.
The Highlanders and Wildcats will meet on Sunday for the rubber match. First pitch is scheduled for 1pm back at Wilson Field.
