VESTAL, NY - The third-seeded NJIT baseball team moved forward in the 2024 America East Baseball Tournament on Thursday, defeating host and sixth-seeded Binghamton 5-2 at the Bearcats Baseball Complex.

All five NJIT runs came in the first three innings, including a three-run first inning, which was highlighted by an RBI double from AJ Soldra and a two-run single off the bat of Luke Longo. 

Ray Ortiz drew a nine-pitch walk with the bases loaded in the second inning and Longo's 10th home run of the season made it 5-0 after three.

Aidan Kidd started on the mound in an elimination playoff game for the second time in his career and put together a quality start in similar fashion to his 2022 playoff masterpiece against UMBC. 

Kidd went five innings and struck out 10, while walking just one. He allowed just two runs, one in the fourth and another in the fifth before handing the ball to another veteran, sixth-year team member Joe Georgini after six innings. 

Georgini didn't allow a run en route to his third save of the season, preserving the 5-2 win.

Albert Choi, Kevin Pusky, and Longo each had a pair of base hits to lead the NJIT offense. Five different Highlanders scored one run each.

Kidd reached the double-digit strikeout mark for the third time this season and sixth time in his career, one of which was a 10-strikeout performance in the aforementioned 2022 playoff game vs.UMBC. The senior extended his America East-best strikeout total to 97 on the season.

With the victory, NJIT advances to the double-elimination portion of the tournament. The Highlanders will take on #2 UMBC on Thursday at 7pm, with the winner earning a spot in the winner's bracket finals against the winner of #1 Bryant and #4 UMass Lowell.