Newark, N.J. – The NJIT baseball team continues its home stretch this weekend as it welcomes in UAlbany for a three-game series. The slate opens Friday night at 7:30 p.m. with game two scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. The series wraps up on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first pitch. All three games will be streamed live on AmericaEast.TV.

LAST TIME OUT
The Highlanders rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning but ultimately fell in extras, 4-3, to Marist on Wednesday night. Ray Ortiz led off the game with a home run, but the Red Foxes scored the next three runs and used solid pitching to maintain their lead. A two-run single from Michael Doyle tied the game in the ninth, but Marist got a run back in the 10^th to take the win.

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

• NJIT and UAlbany have met 25 times previously, with the Highlanders owning a 14-11 record against the Great Danes. However, UAlbany has won the last four games in the series, which came on the heels of a nine-game NJIT winning streak.
• Ray Ortiz leads America East in hits (36), home runs (8), runs scored (27) and slugging percentage (.694) while ranking in the top three in OPS (2^nd; 1.102), runs batted in (3^rd; 23), doubles (3^rd; 9) and triples (2^nd, 2).
• Ortiz has reached base safely in all 26 games he has played in this season.
• Ortiz was named to D1Baseball.com's Week Six Top 50 Shortstops in the nation, coming in at No. 47 on the list.
• Cole Campbell was also recognized by D1Baseball.com before the season as one of the top 50 catchers on the country.
• Holden deJong was named by Perfect Game as the America East Preseason Pitcher of the Year, as well as a Top 250 College Prospect by D1Baseball.com.
• Brandon Peterson was named America East Pitcher of the Week on Monday. He fired 6.2 innings while allowing just one hit and no runs in the win over Maine last Sunday.
• Peterson has allowed just five hits and three runs while striking out 12 over his last two starts.
• MT Morrissey was named America East Pitcher of the Week on March 4 after a stellar outing against Iona, pitching seven innings and striking out seven while allowing just one run.
• Morrissey struck out a career-high nine batters on Saturday night against Maine.
• Andrew Eppinger collected his first multi-home run game of his career on Friday against Maine. The graduate student entered the game with just one home run in his career.
• NJIT has scored in the first inning in 17 of its 27 games, and have scored 33 runs in the opening frame so far this season.
• The Highlanders are 9-2 this season when scoring 6+ runs.
• NJIT is 11-0 this season when leading after six innings.
• NJIT is currently in the midst of a stretch of 16 out of 17 games being played at home. The Highlanders opened the season with 14 of their first 18 games being played on the road, and they will also end their regular season with 14 of 18 games away from home.
• The Highlanders were picked to finish tied for third in the America East preseason poll. NJIT was tied with Maine with 21 points apiece, behind second-place selection Binghamton and first-place pick Bryant.