Box score
LANTANA, FL—North Dakota State spotted NJIT a 2-0 lead through three innings before pouring 14 runs across the plate over the last six innings to defeat the Highlanders, 14-3, Friday night at the Palm Beach Challenge.
Three North Dakota State pitchers combined to hold NJIT to two earned runs, but it was a 23-hit barrage that lifted the Bison to victory in a game they trailed early. North Dakota State took the lead with four runs in the top of the fourth inning and continued to add on, pulling away with two runs in the fifth, one in the sixth, six in the eighth, and one in the ninth.
CF Kyle Harrison led the Bison with five hits in six at-bats that included a double and a triple, but he was not alone. 2B Andrew Stitt was 4-for-6; RF Chad Berg was 3-for-5 (two doubles), with three runs scored and three batted in; and, SS Max Casper was 3-for-6.
Josh Smith started on the mound and earned his first win of the season for North Dakota State, going five innings and allowing five hits and two runs, while striking out six and walking two. Relievers Glenn Parker and Mark Ries combined for four innings and one unearned run allowed.
NJIT got nine hits, led by PJ Saporito, who notched a double and a triple in three at-bats. Matt Tomczyk added two hits for the Highlanders and drove in two of their three runs.
Saporito and Tomczyk were also the two pitchers for NJIT. Saporito, who pitched a complete-game 2-1 win over Iona in his previous outing last Saturday, was not nearly as effective against North Dakota State, allowing 14 hits and six earned runs in seven innings. He walked two and struck out four. Tomczyk, who started the game at second base, was hit hard in two relief innings.
The Highlanders got on the board with two out in the bottom of the first inning. Tomczyk singled to drive in Saporito, who had drawn a two-out walk and advanced to second on a balk.
Saporito scored the second NJIT run, as well, tripling to center field with one out in the third inning and then scoring on a single by freshman 1B Dan Moreno, who picked up his team-leading ninth run batted in.
North Dakota State, which had managed a hit off of Saporito in each of the first three innings, but had not scored, broke through for four runs on five hits in the top of the fourth inning. LF Michael Riewer doubled to bring home the first two NDSU runs and he scored the go-ahead run on a single by Casper.
The Bison, who scored at least once in five of the last six innings, added three more runs against Saporito and then scored six off of Tomczyk in the eighth and another in the ninth.
NJIT's third run was unearned in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jeffrey Pizzi, on first thanks to a fielder's choice, moved up when Moreno reached on a two-out passed-ball strikeout and then scored from second on Tomczyk's single.
The Highlanders will wrap up their trip to Florida on Saturday at noon with a rematch against North Dakota State.
