GAME ONE BOX SCORE
GAME TWO BOX SCORE

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NEWARK, N.J. - The Hartford baseball team had opportunities for two victories on Saturday afternoon at NJIT, but they came away without either as the Hawks lost leads in both ends of a doubleheader, falling 3-2 and 7-6 to the Highlanders. The first game, which was scheduled for seven innings, went one extra frame while the second, which became a seven-inning contest after the first game went extras, took nine innings to decide.

Alex Gouin took the loss for the Hawks in the first game, then pitched well as the starter in Game Two. Brian Rice would ultimately give up the lead, allowing the final two runs to score in a bottom of the ninth inning wich the Hawks entered leading 6-3.

Hartford got on the board first in Game One, scoring twice in the second inning. Andy Drexel led off with a single to left field, and came all the way around to score when Matt Walker blasted a double over the head of the NJIT center fielder that rolled all the way to the wall. Walker moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Lukach and scored when Rodger Wilmot sent a sacrifice fly to deep left field.

The Highlanders answered with two runs in the bottom of the third, and the score remained knotted at two apiece through the next four innings. Mike Thatcher, who started for the Hawks, pitched brilliantly, scattering five hits and striking out five through 6.0 innings of work. In front of a large contingent of family and friends, New Jersey native Alex Gouin came on to relieve Thatcher in the seventh inning and set the Highlanders down quickly.

In the eighth, though, Matt Weckerle led off with a sharply-hit single through the right side of the infield. Gouin then hit D.J. Roche with a pitch, and after a sacrifice bunt moved both runners up, Jeff Peterson provided the walk-off heroics with his bounding ball single back through the middle. The Hawks had the infield drawn in and under normal circumstances, Peterson's hit would have been an easy out for shortstop Simon Kudernatsch. However, he would not have been able to throw out Weckerle at the plate.

Hartford grabbed the early lead again in Game Two, scoring three times in the third inning. Rodger Wilmot drew a one-out walk, and moved to third when Brian Estevez singled to left field. The Hawks then benefited from some aggressive play, as Simon Kudernatsch put down a great squeeze bunt attempt that NJIT starter Austin McAuliffe threw away trying to nip Kudernatsch at first base. Wilmot scored and Estevez motored around to third as Kudernatsch took second.

James Alfonso drove Estevez home with his sacrifice fly. With two outs, Kudernatsch broke for third on a stolen base attempt. He had the throw beat, but Roche's throw was mishandled by Peterson, letting it go into left field. Kudernatsch got up and scored. Andy Drexel followed with a triple to deep center field, but was stranded there.

NJIT got a run back in the bottom of the third and two more in the fifth, so once again the game was headed for extra innings. Both teams were held scoreless in the eighth, but in the ninth, Hartford broke on top with three big runs.

Ryan Lukach led off with a walk, and moved to second on Mike Aldrich's sacrifice bunt. Then, Wilmot worked a 1-2 count before taking what could have been called strike three on the outside corner. Instead, it was called ball two, and on the next pitch, Wilmot roped a double into the corner in left field. Lukach scored. With Wilmot on second and one out, Estevez caught the Highlanders napping as he saw Peterson playing deep at third and put down a perfect bunt single down the third base line. Moments later, Wilmot scored on a wild pitch, and Estevez would come home on an RBI single by Simon Kudernatsch.

Leading 6-3, the Hawks sent freshman Hunter Englehart back out for the bottom of the ninth. Englehart had relieved Gouin in the sixth inning and had pitched three scoreless innings to that point, but he would not record an out in the ninth.

Bleakley led off with a walk, and Peterson hit a double nearly identical to Wilmot's that put runners on second and third with no one out. Then, Vincent Del Vecchio chopped a high bounder to second base which Estevez misplayed, scoring both Bleakley and Peterson.

Brian Rice came in to try to slam the door, and looked to have gotten a good start when he induced a grounder to Estevez that looked like a potential double play. The throw to second was high, though, and although pinch runner Kennedy Tavarez was out, the relay throw was too late to get Tyler Kapp at first. Anthony Caiola lined out for the second out of the inning, but Teddy Bickert drove the next Rice offering to deep left center field, just missing a walk-off home run but getting enough of it to wind up with an RBI double. The score was tied, and one pitch later, NJIT had a walkoff win as Matt Tomczyk lined a base hit up the middle that scored Bickert.

The losses were the seventh and eighth in a row for Hartford, which is now 1-19-1 on the year. The Hawks and Highlanders will play two more on Sunday afternoon, these games to be played at Fiondella Field in West Hartford. First pitch for that doubleheader is set for 1:00 p.m.