Huntsville, Texas – Five Highlanders recorded multi-hit games and
Holden deJong struck out seven over six innings of work as NJIT notched its first win of the season, 9-5, over Sam Houston on Friday evening.
Cole Campbell and
Austin Francis each led the offensive charge with three hits apiece, with Francis knocking in a pair of runs. NJIT's four-run ninth proved to be the difference in the game, with the exclamation point coming on a three-run home run from
Ray Ortiz, his second long ball of the season.
How it Happened
NJIT struck first in the third inning, a frame which started with a pair of Highlanders reaching base. Francis laid down a sacrifice bunt, but an errant throw from the Bearkats' pitcher allowed Campbell to score from second. NJIT would tack on another run in the fourth on an RBI groundout from
Michael Doyle to take a 2-0 lead.
deJong was able to keep Sam Houston off the board for most of his outing, including working his way out of a bases loaded jam in the second. He would bounce back to retire eight of the next nine hitters over the following three innings, but the Bearkats broke through in the fifth to cut the deficit in half.
NJIT's offense did the bulk of its damage in the later innings. Francis gave the Highlanders some breathing room in the sixth, singling through the left side to score Campbell and
Andrew Eppinger to make it a 4-1 game.
Ty Sallie would then keep his strong start to the season going in the eight, singling home Francis to give the Highlanders a 5-1 lead.
In the ninth, Eppinger roped a one-out double and came around to score on an RBI single from Campbell. After Francis collected his third hit of the game to put two runners aboard, Ortiz launched a three-run home run to left to blow the game open.
NJIT would end up needing all four of those insurance runs in the ninth, as Sam Houston would not go quietly in the last of the frame.
Anthony Anzaldi was called in with the bases loaded after the Bearkats had pushed three across in the inning. After allowing an RBI infield single, Anzaldi forced a fly out and groundout to pick up his first career save.
Up Next
NJIT and Sam Houston will play a doubleheader on Saturday, with first pitch of game one set for 12:30 p.m.
