Little Falls, N.J. – Nate DeSchryver struck out 11 batters over five innings of work as the NJIT baseball team opened its weekend series with a 3-1 win over UAlbany on Friday night. DeSchryver's 11 punchouts are a new career high, leading a pitching staff that struck out a combined 18 Great Danes on the night.
How it Happened
As has been the case much of this season, the Highlanders struck early. In the bottom of the first,
Ray Ortiz and
Michael Doyle reached base the open up the frame.
Andrew Eppinger followed with a two-run double to right to score them both and give NJIT the early advantage. One inning later, Ortiz drove in a run of his own on an RBI double to the wall in center field.
Spotted an early three-run lead, DeSchryver settled in. The graduate student struck out the side in order in the third, giving him seven K's through three innings. He worked himself in and out of trouble in the fourth, walking the bases loaded but recording a couple strikeouts to escape unscathed. In the fifth, DeSchryver picked up his 11
th strikeout of the night, surpassing his career-high which he set against BYU while playing at Gonzaga in 2023.
Anthony Anzaldi relieved DeSchryver and worked clean sixth and seventh innings. The left-hander ran into trouble in the eighth, when
Colin Kidd was brought into a bases loaded no outs jam. Kidd opened his outing with back-to-back three-pitch strikeouts before walking in a run to make it a 3-1 game. Kidd bounced back right away with his third strikeout of the frame to strand the bases loaded.
Up Next
NJIT and UAlbany face off in game two of their series on Saturday at 3 p.m.
