May 24, 2007

Box Score

OREM, UT - Senior right fielder Kwesi Mitchell raised his season runs batted in total to a school-record 43 in New Jersey Institute of Technology's loss to powerful Utah Valley State Thursday night in day two of the 2007 Independent Championship baseball tournament at Utah Valley's Wolverine Stadium.

Mitchell's record-breaking RBI total surpasses the one-year old mark of 42, set in 2006 by Mike Turner, who is the junior third baseman for NJIT. Last weekend, Mitchell reached a school season-record 13 home runs, passing Jim Tensfeldt's old mark of 12, set in 1983.

Mitchell's two-RBI game Thursday also raised his career total to 103, vaulting him past Frank Testa (101 from 1982-85) and Tensfeldt (102 from 1980-83) and into second on the NJIT all-time list behind Chris Schwartz (131 from 2001-04).

Utah Valley raised its season record to 24-29 with a 23-3 win over NJIT, as the Wolverines took complete control early, scoring 13 runs through two innings.

NJIT combined for nine hits in the game. Junior 2B Chris Cardone put the Highlanders on the board hitting his first home run of the season over the left field fence in the top of the third. Freshman SS Miguel Lugo and sophomore CF Craig Binkiewicz followed with back-to-back singles to leftfield. Mitchell drove them home with a two-out double into the gap.

Cardone and Lugo both hit 2-for-4 while 1B Austin DeRogatis went 2-for-3. Mitchell and Cardone had the only Highlander runs batted in, while Binkiewicz, Cardone and Lugo scored the runs.

Starting pitcher Matt Melody was charged with the loss, as the Highlanders used three pitchers. Rookie Gio Bermudez relieved Dan Kapica in the middle of the third finishing out the game for the Highlanders pitching six hard-fought innings.

The victorious Wolverines got multiple-hit games from seven players, paced by LF Austin Heaps and 3B Dick Bargewell, who each went 5-for-6. Heaps and 2B Keiki Albino drove in five runs apiece.

Jace Brinkerhoff was the winning pitcher, allowing all of NJIT's nine hits and three runs.

The Highlanders are scheduled to take on South Dakota State at 12:30 pm Mountain Time on Friday.