America East Baseball News & Notes: NJIT leads at halfway point

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We have reached the halfway point of the America East Baseball season, and the NJIT Highlanders find themselves in first place, with a two-game lead on the rest of the league. The lead was created by a sweep of UAlbany last weekend at Yogi Berra Stadium. Both UMBC and Maine also won their series. Last weekend, the home teams did what you are supposed to do: protect their home-field advantage.

Since we are at the halfway mark, we thought we would look at how this league stacks up in the latest edition of stats numbers provided by the NCAA. The first list we looked at is doubles per game. NJIT’s Andrew Eppinger is 31st in the country with an average of .44 doubles per game, and he has hit 11 in 25 games. UMass Lowell’s infielder Brandon Fish is 47th with an average of .42 a game, and he has 11 2-baggers in 27 games. River Hawks OF Alex Luccini is tied for 5th in triples with 5 in 31 games. He is also 5th in triples per game at an average of .17.

One reason for NJIT being at the top of the standings is its ability to close games. Anthony Anzaldi has 5 saves in 25 IP and has made 13 appearances so far this year. Maine’s Sebastian Holt picked up his 6th save on Sunday vs UMass Lowell. He has thrown 18.1 innings in 12 appearances this season. Being able to drive runners in from third base with less than two outs is a big key for any offense. UMBC’s infielder Kyle Eddington is tied for 17th with 5 sac flies in 24 games. Infielder Devan Bade of Binghamton is tied for 47th with 4 sac flies in 26 games. A lost art in the game of baseball is laying down bunts to move runners along. Two guys who are good at it are infielder Austin Francis of the Highlanders. He is tied for 32nd with 6 in 29 games. Bryant infielder Zac Zyons is tied for 32nd with 6 in 25 games.

Being able to turn double plays can help you get out of trouble. It can also mean there is a lot of traffic on the base paths. UAlbany has turned 26 DPs in 26 games, for an average of one a game. Also important is catching the baseball. The Binghamton Bearcats are 30th in the nation in fielding percentage at .978 (21 errors in 28 games). They have 671 putouts and 253 assists so far. Getting hit by a pitch can be a painful way to get on base. Bryant has been hit by pitch 58 times in 28 games, which is good for 39th in the country.

NJIT has cracked double figures in triples with 10 in 30 games. That places them in a tie for 39th in the nation. They are also tied for 41st in the country in triples per game at .33 a contest. That gives you some idea of where the league stands in regard to the rest of the country.

UMBC had a big weekend at home against Binghamton. Because of that, they are featured in this week’s awards. The America East Player of the Week is Leewood Molessa. He hit .533, slugged 1.400 last week, drove in 11 runs, with 6 hits, 6 runs scored, and four HRs. He tied a league record with three HR and 6 RBI in a 19-9 win over the Bearcats. The America East Rookie of the Week is Sergio Droz. In that same series, Droz hit .700 with five runs scored, one RBI. On the mound, he pitched two scoreless innings vs Maryland in helping UMBC pick up a win over their Big-10 rival. In the 19-9 win over Binghamton, he went 5-for-5 with four runs scored.

The America East Pitcher of the Week is Nate DeSchryver. In a 3-1 win over the Great Danes, he threw five scoreless innings on Friday, allowing just one hit while striking out 11. It was his first win of the season.

This weekend, the second half of the league season begins. UMBC is at UMass Lowell, Bryant is at Binghamton, and Maine is at UAlbany. NJIT is hosting Wagner in non-league play.