ORONO- To beat the expected rain this weekend, Maine and the New Jersey Institute of Technology kicked off their three game series by playing a conference baseball doubleheader at Mahaney Diamond on Friday afternoon. The Black Bears would win the first game 1-0 behind a 7.0 inning complete game from Caleb Leys on the mound, before the Highlanders rebounded to win game two 10-6 to salvage the split.
In game one (7 innings)- The lefty junior Leys continued his superb season by going the distance to get the win. The Black Bears got all they needed in the second inning when Evan Menzel hit a ground rule double with one out, and with two outs Myles Sargent singled up the middle to plate Menzel. Maine was held to three hits, with two coming in that deciding second inning. Leys (5-1) allowed five hits while walking two and striking out five, lowering his ERA to 2.21. MT Morrissey (4-5) suffered the loss for the Highlanders giving up one run on the three hits with no walks and five strikeouts in 6.0 innings.
In game two (nine innings)- NJIT bolted out to a big lead early and held on to pick up the afternoon split. Austin Francis hit a first inning three-run homerun, and Jack Stead hit a solo shot as part of a five run second off Black Bears starter Colin Fitzgerald. The Highlanders got two of the second inning runs on a wild pitch and a passed ball. Maine got on the board when Damon Gaither hit a sacrifice RBI fly in the fourth, and Zach Martin nailed a solo homer in the seventh. Sargent came through with an RBI single in the eighth, and then later in the frame Gaither smoked a line drive down the rightfield line with two runners on that hit the foul pole for a three-run homerun to slice the deficit to 8-6. The guests put it away though with two runs in the ninth inning. Chris Bear, Aidan Bardi, Sargent, and Martin had two hits each in the loss. Gaither drove in four runs. Fitzgerald (5-4) took the pitching defeat by giving up eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Francis had three hits and three RBI for NJIT, while six other players had two hits a piece. Nate DeSchryver (2-3) won on the hill allowing two runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 7.0 innings. The Highlanders are now 20-20 overall and 8-6 in America East.
The record for Maine sits at 17-22 and 11-6 in conference play. The teams are now scheduled (weather permitting) to play the rubber game of the series on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m., moved up from the originally scheduled Sunday 12 p.m. start.
