Baseball Welcomes NJIT To Clarke Field Wednesday

Wednesday, April 26

Princeton, N.J.

3:00 PM

Princeton University

NJIT

Nick DiPietrantonio

Photo by: Evan Volkman

April 25, 2023 | Baseball

PRINCETON – The Princeton Baseball Team welcomes the NJIT Highlanders to Clarke Field on Wednesday with first pitch set for 3 p.m.

The Tigers are 18-17 this season with victories over Georgia, Duke, Richmond, Cincinnati, SC Upstate, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Monmouth, Columbia, Rider and Cornell. The Tigers are third in the Ivy League at 10-5, behind Penn (11-4) and Columbia (11-4). Harvard (9-5) is behind Princeton with Yale (8-7), Brown (5-9), Cornell (5-10) and Dartmouth (0-15) out of the playoff race at the moment. The top four teams make the Ivy League Tournament.

Scott Bandura leads the Ivy League in hitting at .387 which sits 55th in the NCAA. The junior's 1.51 hits per game is 64th in the country while his 53 hits are 14 shy of Brendan Cumming's season record set last season. Bandura leads the team in runs (33), on-base percentage (.466) and stolen bases (12). He is currently on a 27-game on-base streak.

Princeton has three other hitters hitting over .300 in Noah Granet (.356), Eric Marasheski (.321) and Nick DiPietrantonio (.303). Marasheski paces the Tigers with 15 doubles and is slugging .530 while Granet has hits in seven of his last eight contests. DiPietrantonio has hits in all but two of Princeton's games since Ivy League play.

Kyle Vinci has been one of the best power hitters in the country as his 17 home runs is 11th in the nation while his .52 home runs per game are second. His 17 four baggers are the most in a single season in program history while his 47 RBI are tied fourth. His .687 slugging percentage would be second highest among all Princeton players ever.

The Tigers have hit 49 home runs as a team, breaking the mark set in 1996 while its .480 slugging percentage would also be a new record.

Justin Kim paces Princeton in ERA with a 2.84 mark in 38 innings out of the bullpen. Tom Chmielewski has been the Tigers' best starter with a 3.44 ERA in nine starts. He has struck out 53 hitters in 52 1/3 frames and thrown at least six innings in five of his last six starts.

NJIT is 16-21 this season with wins over Davidson, Purdue, Missouri, Albany, UMBC, Rider, LIU, Saint Peter's and Binghamton. Luke Longo has been the Highlanders' best player with a .294 average, 10 home runs and 27 RBI. Aidan Kidd has been NJIT's best starter with a 3.88 ERA in 48 2/3 innings.