Baseball Dropped by NJIT – Princeton University Athletics
Princeton, N.J — Princeton was dropped in its penultimate non-conference game this afternoon as NJIT won, 14-5, in the first meeting between these two programs.
Max Zdimal made his first-career start on the mound this afternoon. The freshman lefty pitched 3.0 innings with six strikeouts. Jason Ramirez pitched the next 3.0 innings and fanned five NJIT batters.
At the plate, Brendan Cumming hit his seventh home run of the season with a leadoff shot in the bottom of the first. He went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Jackson Emus also hit a home run—the first of his career. He went 1-for-2 with an RBI, a run scored, and two walks.
Noah Granet also impressed at the plate. Coming off a four-hit performance in the series finale against Harvard, he went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Matt Scannell and Carlos Abello each tallied an RBI. Scannell now leads the team with 33 RBI.
The Highlanders took an early lead with three runs on three hits in the top of the first. Cumming got the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the frame with a leadoff blast to left field to make it 3-1 through one frame.
NJIT extended its lead in the third with a solo homer which made it a 4-1 ballgame.
Princeton clawed its way back into the game in the bottom of the frame. After a leadoff single by Cumming, Granet drove him home with a double off the left field wall. Scannell plated Granite later in the inning with a hard grounder to the Highlander second baseman to make it 4-3.
NJIT gave itself some breathing room as an infield error allowed the visitors to score their fifth of the day. They further extended that lead in the sixth with a two-run home run to make it a 7-3 game. An RBI double and a two-run double in the top of the seventh then made it 10-3 NJIT.
After the seventh-inning stretch, Emus hit a solo shot to right field to cut into the deficit, but the Highlanders immediately punched back with four runs in the eighth to make it 14-4.
An Abello RBI in the bottom of the ninth made it a nine-run game, but Princeton was unable to rally as the Highlanders took a 14-5 victory.
