WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Hartford baseball team split its Friday doubleheader with NJIT, taking game one, 8-4, before suffering a 5-4 loss in game two, on Friday afternoon at Fiondella Field.
 
Sophomore Derek Tenney led the offense with three homers on the day, as the Hawks moved to 4-2 on the season and in the America East. With the split, NJIT moved to 3-9 on the campaign and 2-4 the America East. 
 
GAME ONE: HARTFORD 8, NJIT 4
Hartford struck first in the bottom of the second, after a bases-loaded balk scored Bryce Ramsay with Tim Dickson at the plate. A few pitches later, Dickson's RBI groundout plated Daniel Burnett to give Hartford a 2-0 lead. The Hawks pushed it to 3-0 in the inning when John Thrasher legged out a two-out RBI infield single to score Robert Carmody. 

Hartford pushed its lead to 4-0 after Tenney's solo homer to left to lead off the bottom of the third inning. After NJIT scored a run of its own in the fourth, the Hawks added another run behind Zachary Ardito's RBI double to push their lead to 5-1. 

Hartford powered three more runs home in the sixth behind a two-run shot from Drew DeMartino, followed by Tenney's second solo homer of the day to push ahead, 8-1. NJIT would add three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Hartford eventually held on for the 8-4 victory.
 
GAME TWO: NJIT 5, HARTFORD 4
NJIT struck first in game two, opening the contest with a three-run homer in the first inning to jump out to a 3-0 lead. After being shut out through the first three innings, Ardito put the Hawks on the board with a solo homer to left. Tremayne Cobb Jr. followed two batters later with a solo shot of his own to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the fourth inning.

Trailing 3-2 in the seventh, Nik Pagan drilled a two-out triple to the fence in center field. Freshman Devon Edwards followed by lining an RBI single to center to plate Pagan, knotting the game at 3-3, however, NJIT responded with two runs in the eighth to take a 5-3 lead.

Tenney launched a solo homer to lead off the ninth to cut the deficit to 5-4, however, the Hawks were unable to score again in the inning, falling 5-4.
 
NEWS AND NOTES

• Senior Nick Dombkowski (2-0) got the start in game one, tossing six innings, allowing one run on two hits, while striking out six
• Tenney led the offense in game one, going 2-for-4 at the plate with two solo homers
• DeMartino added two RBI off a two-run homer in game one
• Thrasher, Ardito and Dickson added an RBI apiece in the win
• Sophomore Ken Turner (0-0) got the start and took the no-decision, logging six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits, striking out 10 batters in the process
• Freshman Ryan Dee (0-1) pitched in relief for Turner and took the loss
• Dee tossed one inning in relief, allowing one earned run, while striking out three.
• Ardito, Cobb Jr. and Tenney hit a solo homer apiece to power the offense in game two

 
NEXT ON TAP
Hartford will be back in action on Saturday, March 27, when it closes the weekend series against NJIT with a doubleheader. First pitch from Fiondella Field is set for noon.

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