LEXINGTON, VA - The NJIT baseball team squared off with host VMI on Friday in the first of four games this weekend at Gray-Minor Stadium and the Keydets rallied late for a 6-5 walk-off victory over the Highlanders.

VMI got on the scoreboard first with a pair of runs in the home half of the first inning.

NJIT broke through in the third when sophomore Dillon Can hit his first-career home run to make the score 2-1. An inning later, freshman Cade Ladehoff connected on the second home run of his young career to tie the game.

The Highlanders took the lead in the seventh when Michael Doyle led off with a single and came around to score on a VMI error.  NJIT made it 5-2 an inning later thanks to an RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of Andrew Eppinger and an RBI single from Doyle.

VMI was able to score three runs in the eighth to tie the game, before ultimately winning it with a run in the bottom of the ninth. 

Aidan Kidd started on the mound for NJIT and settled in after the first inning. After allowing two runs in the first, Kidd cruised through the fifth without allowing another run. Kidd was replaced by Holden deJong, who threw two scoreless innings before getting into trouble in the eighth.

Ladehoff paced the NJIT offense with his first-career three-hit game on Friday. Can and Doyle each recorded a pair of hits. 

The Highlanders and Keydets will return to the diamond on Saturday for a doubleheader. The first game is slated to begin at 1pm back at Gray-Minor Stadium in Lexington.