Box score
WINTER HAVEN, FL—Freshman pitcher Tripp Davis earned his first college win with seven strong innings and junior Steven Ace notched the save in NJIT's impressive 4-2 win over Bradley in Spring Break baseball action Wednesday.
Davis, the left-hander from Ohio, was brilliant against Bradley, outpitching junior Patrick Cooper, a leading prospect for the 2010 Major League Draft.
Davis tossed seven innings and allowed just one run on five hits, with nine strikeouts and two walks in beating Bradley and Cooper.
He is 1-2, but one of the defeats was another seven-inning effort in which he did not allow an earned run but was tagged with the loss to USC Upstate (3-2 in South Carolina on February 28). His season earned run average is down to 3.60 in 20 innings.
Ace, the junior right-hander, is back in the bullpen to begin the 2010 season after having started nine games last season. Ace picked up his first college save on Wednesday, working the last two innings and allowing a run on one hit. He struck out three and his ERA stands at 2.45 in three relief appearances.
The Highlanders, who broke a scoreless tie and got all the runs their pitchers would need with a three-run fifth inning, picked up two hits from RF Jeffrey Pizzi, plus one hit apiece from five other players.
CF James D'Aloia (1-for-3) had a two-run single to key the fifth inning and SS Vincent Del Vecchio stroked a double—the only extra-base hit for either side—to drive home NJIT's third run of the frame.
Bradley, which plays in the highly-rated Missouri Valley Conference and is the alma mater of several current and former major leaguers, including Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett, lost to NJIT despite a solid start from Cooper, who pitched the first six innings and allowed three runs on six hits. His season won-lost record is 0-2.
Cooper, a junior, was ranked 48th in the nation among college juniors and 60th among all prospects for the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft in the preseason by Baseball America, universally regarded as the top media authority on the subject.
3B Rob Elliott and LF Mike Tauchman each had a pair of singles to account for four of the Braves' six hits against Davis and Ace.
Bradley left two men on base against Davis in the top of the first inning, but there was no scoring and only three more baserunners for the two teams combined until NJIT broke through for its three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning against Cooper.
NJIT 3B John Berner got things started with a leadoff single and Pizzi followed with a hit to center field and both men moved up a base when the center fielder misplayed Pizzi's hit for an error.
D'Aloia then hit his two-run single and Kyle McCarthy was hit by a pitch. Cooper struck out the next two batters, but Del Vecchio's two-out double made it 3-0 before the inning ended with McCarthy being thrown out at home on the play.
Bradley manufactured its only run off of Davis, keyed by Elliott's leadoff single and Tauchman's walk, which preceded a sacrifice bunt. Elliott later scored on an infield ground out.
The Highlanders cushioned their lead with an unearned run, highlighted by a leadoff single for freshman DH Matt Petrone, allowing them to take a 4-1 lead into the ninth inning.
The first two Braves reached base and one of them scored on a grounder that was the first out of the inning, But Ace stranded the potential tying runs in scoring position, striking out Tauchman and then inducing pinch hitter Kevin Sullivan to ground out to end the game.
NJIT (3-8) is next scheduled to face North Dakota State on Friday at 3 pm in Winter Haven.
