NJIT Hands Baseball 23-12 Loss

(Box Score)

3/12/07 --The Long Island University baseball team plated 12 runs, but that would not prove to be enough to hold off New Jersey Institute of Technology as the Highlanders defeated the Blackbirds by a 23-12 margin on the third day of action at the Palm Beach Challenge.

NJIT raced out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the top of the first and adding at least five runs in each of the next three frames to take a 19-2 lead by the middle of the fourth. By the time the Blackbirds scored nine runs in the seventh the game was still well out of reach. All nine of the runs were unearned after a Highlander fielding error.

Freshman Chris Kievit (Wayne, N.J.) had one of the few bright spots on the day for Long Island, belting a solo home run in the second inning. Fellow freshman Jesse Johnson picked up the loss in his first collegiate start for the Blackbirds (1-6). Johnson allowed eight earned runs on seven hits in 1 2/3 innings of work.

Long Island will return to action in Boynton Beach, Fla., tomorrow when the Blackbirds take on Fordham at 2:30 p.m.