ORONO- Luke Longo hit his second solo homerun of the game in the seventh inning, which turned out to be the game winner on Friday, as the NJIT Highlanders eliminated the Maine Black Bears 9-7 in the America East Baseball Tournament at Mahaney Diamond.
NJIT (26-26) teed off early on Maine freshman starting pitcher Caleb Leys. The Highlanders had three hits in the top of the first inning, including an RBI single by Julio Marcano to make it 1-0. They added on in the second, knocking Leys out of his start. Longo hammered the first pitch of the inning well over the fence in left, and then after a Jared Donnelly walk with one out David Marcano hit one over the fence in right for a 4-0 advantage ending the day for Leys. Noah Lewis came on in relief and kept the Black Bears in the game by keeping NJIT in check allowing no runs and two hits over the next 3.2 innings. Maine got on the board with a pair in the bottom half of the second. With one out, Jeremiah Jenkins doubled to right center and Connor Goodman tripled into the left field corner. Jake Marquez delivered the second run when he singled to right to drive in Goodman with two outs. The hosts took their only lead in the fifth. Joe Bramanti hit a one out double to centerfield, and then after a sacrifice bunt by Scout Knotts to move Bramanti to third base, Jenkins was hit by a pitch and Goodman came up with another big hit with a double to right center to score Bramanti. Ryan Turenne followed with a two-run double into the right field corner and it was 5-4 Bears.
The lead didn’t last long as NJIT finally got to Lewis in the sixth inning. Ray Ortiz led off with a single, was sacrificed to second by Donnelly, and with two outs Albert Choi singled to send home Ortiz. After Choi stole second, Julio Marcano hit his first homerun of the day a two-run blast to left for a 7-5 Highlanders lead. Maine tied it in the bottom half, as Jordan Schulefand led off with a single before the next two batters were retired by reliever Jake Rappaport. Bramanti and Knotts both walked to load the bases, and then consecutively Rappaport hit both Jenkins and Goodman with pitches to force in two runs and even the score 7-7. Longo hit the game winning solo homer to left center on a 1-2 pitch from Brett Erwin with two outs in the seventh. Julio Marcano helped add an insurance run when he hit his second homerun of the afternoon on the first pitch of the ninth inning. Turenne led off the last at bat for Maine with a single to center, but pinch runner Dylan McNary was doubled up when Highlanders first baseman Nick Hussey stabbed a line drive by Marquez and dove to tag the bag before McNary could get back. Schulefand popped out to second base to end the season for the Black Bears.
Erwin (2-6) was tagged with the pitching loss for Maine. Turenne had three hits and two RBI, while Goodman had two hits with three driven in. The Black Bears left 25 men on base in the two games of the tournament, both ending with losses. Sophomore right hander Drew Standen started on the mound for NJIT allowing two runs on three hits in 2.0 innings. Rappaport (3-7) fired the last 4.0 innings and picked up the win. Julio Marcano had three hits and four RBI, and David Marcano, Choi, Longo, and Kevin Putsky had two hits each. The Highlanders would end their season at 26-27 by falling to UMass-Lowell 13-8 in the second elimination game Friday evening, with the Riverhawks now advancing to play Binghamton in the America East Championship Round on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Bearcats defeated the Riverhawks 8-5 in Friday’s first game, becoming the first team to punch their ticket to Championship Saturday. Binghamton will have two chances to win one game with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line. Maine ends up with a final record of 27-22, going 3-8 down the stretch to end the season against America East opponents. This was the fourth time Maine has hosted the America East Tournament (2002, 2004, 2018) capturing the title just once in 2002 on their home field at Mahaney Diamond.
