Ryan Fischer Strikes Out 14 as NJIT Rolls Past Stony Brook, 10-2

Ryan Fischer struck out two hitters in a perfect first inning on Friday evening before the NJIT offense put up a four-spot in the home half of the frame to set the tone en route to a 10-2 America East Conference victory over Stony Brook at Jim Hynes Stadium.

Fischer dominated after the bats gave him an early 4-0 lead, striking out a career-high 14 hitters in his first-career nine-inning complete game. The right-hander did not walk a batter and is now 7-2 on the season and 6-0 through seven America East Conference starts. 

All four first-inning runs came with two outs as Paul Franzoni was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Nick Hussey singled in the second run, and Cole Fleming doubled the lead with two-run single later in the inning as the Highlanders batted around in the opening frame. 

Hussey made it 6-0 with a two-RBI double in the third, while Albert Choi's RBI-single an inning later made the score 7-0.

Stony Brook finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh, cutting the margin to 7-1, but Franzoni's team-best ninth home run of the season in the home half of the inning put the hosts back up by seven. An RBI triple from Fleming and a sacrifice fly from Jared Donnelly made it a 10-1 game before Stony Brook scored one run in the ninth to make the final margin 10-2.

Fischer finished the night as he started it, striking out Stony Brook's Stanton Leuthner for the final out, his 14th strikeout of the evening. 

Five Highlanders had two hits on the night including David Marcano, who has now hit safely in 26 of his last 27 games. Franzoni's home run was the 26th of his career, which broke a tie with teammate Julio Marcano for the program's career home run record.