ORONO, ME - The NJIT baseball team rallied from an early 6-0 deficit Saturday to take a lead against Maine, but ultimately fell 13-8 to the Black Bears in America East action at Mahaney Diamond. 

The Highlanders are now 13-12 on the season and 8-3 in conference play, while Maine improved to 11-14 overall and is also 8-3 in the America East. 

Maine jumped out to an early 6-0 lead thanks to a pair of runs in the first, one more in the second and three more in the third.

NJIT didn't go down without a fight, however, as the Highlanders were able to score a pair of runs in the fourth, two more in the fifth, and three more in the sixth to go ahead 7-6. The final two runs of the rally came via a David Marcano home run.

The lead was short-lived as the Black Bears answered immediately with a two-run home run of their own in the home half of the inning to go back in front 8-7. Maine made it 9-7 and inning later, but NJIT was able to get that run right back as Jared Donnelly crushed his first home run of the season to make the score 9-8.

Maine scored four more times in the eighth to add to its lead and eventually held on to take the game 13-8 and even the three-game series at one apiece.

David Marcano had a pair of hits to extend his hitting streak to 17, while his twin brother Julio Marcano singled for the 200th hit of his tremendous NJIT career. Nick Hussey led the Highlanders with three hits on the afternoon.

Croix Jenkins was NJIT's top pitcher on Saturday, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings.

The Highlanders and Black Bears will meet again on Sunday for the rubber match of the series. First pitch is slated for 12pm back at Mahaney Diamond.