ORONO, Maine — New Jersey Institute of Technology junior catcher Luke Longo had hit three homers coming into Friday’s America East elimination game against the University of Maine.
He walloped a pair of homers as did senior left fielder Julio Marcano as the Highlanders beat UMaine 9-7 at Mahaney Diamond.
NJIT and UMass Lowell meet in an elimination game later Friday and the winner will have to beat Binghamton twice on Saturday to capture the title. Binghamton improved to 2-0 with an 8-5 win over UMass Lowell earlier Friday.
It was a disappointing end to the season for the top-seeded Black Bears, who finished the season with five straight losses and wound up 27-22.
The UMaine pitching staff allowed a whopping 49 earned runs over 42 innings in those five losses for a lofty 10.50 earned run average.
UMaine head coach Nick Derba brought No. 3 starting pitcher Brett Erwin into the game in the seventh inning with the game tied 7-7 and Longo launched a two-out homer to left to break the tie. It was the 10th homer allowed by Erwin this season.
Marcano added a solo shot off Erwin in the ninth for an insurance run.
The Highlanders wasted little time teeing off on UMaine freshman lefty Caleb Leys, who lasted just 11 hitters and surrendered five hits and four earned runs while also walking three.
NJIT’s first three hitters singled and Julio Marcano picked up the RBI with his base hit.
Longo opened the second inning with his fourth homer of the season and a walk and a strikeout later, David Marcano belted his eight homer to make it 4-0 as he went the opposite way to right center.
UMaine got two back in the bottom of the second on Jeremiah Jenkins’ long double to center, Connor Goodman’s triple into the left field corner and Jake Marquez’s single to right.
UMaine took the lead with three runs in the fifth on a Joe Bramanti double, a hit batsman, a run-scoring double by Goodman and Turenne’s two-run double as he hooked an 0-1 pitch down the right field line.
Noah Lewis had been stout in relief, hurling four innings of shutout ball until the sixth.
But the Highlanders reached him for three runs to retake the lead.
A single and a sacrifice put a runner on second and Albert Choi drove in the tying run with a two-out ground ball single to center.
Julio Marcano then became the school’s all-time leader in hits with a two-run homer off the foul pole in left. It was his 232nd career hit.
UMaine tied it in the bottom of the sixth in strange fashion.
Jordan Schulefand singled to open the inning and UMaine then used two walks and two bases-loaded hit batsmen to tie it.
Third baseman Jared Donnelly prevented further damage by making a tremendous over the shoulder catch on Marquez’s shallow fly into left.