Little Falls, N.J. – The Highlanders used five pitchers and timely hitting to earn the victory in their America East opener, 7-6, over UMBC on Friday afternoon at Yogi Berra Stadium.
How it Happened
For the 12
th time this season, NJIT scored in the first inning to grab an early lead. Back-to-back singles from
Cole Campbell and
Ty Sallie created an early threat for the Highlanders. Later in the inning,
Andrew Eppinger cashed in with two outs by singling to right field to score Campbell from third with the game's first run.
After UMBC knotted the game up in the second, NJIT threw a four-spot on the board in the third. Sallie drove home a run by beating out an infield single to short, while
Michael Doyle tacked on two more by lining a single to left field.
Mattie Thomas then brought home another run on a groundout as the Highlanders were able to capitalize on a pair of UMBC errors.
The back-and-forth nature of the game continued in the fourth, as the Retrievers plated two more on a two-run single to close the deficit.
Ray Ortiz would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth, launching an opposite field solo home run with two outs for his sixth round-tripper of the year.
In the fifth, Thomas recorded his second RBI of the game by perfectly executing a safety squeeze to score Doyle from third. UMBC would not go silently, plating a run in the sixth and two in the eighth to pull back within a run, 7-6.
Anthony Anzaldi would escape the eighth inning maintaining the one run lead. Coming back out for the ninth, Anzaldi allowed the first two hitters to reach on singles. After a bunt moved both runners into scoring position, Anzaldi recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.
Up Next
The Highlanders continue their three-game series with UMBC on Saturday at 11 a.m.
