NEWARK, NJ—Freshman Matt Petrone lined the first pitch over the right fielder's head with the bases loaded, driving home the winning run in the ninth inning of NJIT's 10-9 come-from-behind walk-off defeat of visiting Texas-Pan American in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

The visitors won Saturday's opening game easily, 10-0 and, having won the series opener, 8-7, in 13 innings on Friday, were poised to make it three in a row when they scored five runs in the first inning of Saturday's second game before the Highlanders even had a chance to bat.

But NJIT, which had scored three runs in the ninth inning Friday to force extra innings and then kept that game alive with a run in the bottom of the 11th inning after UTPA had gone up a run in the top half, kept battling.

Down 5-0 before they batted, the Highlanders got a pair of runs on the first home run of the year by John Berner in the bottom half of the first inning.

Texas-Pan Am added a run in the second inning for a 6-2 advantage, but the resilient Highlanders got back in contention again in the bottom of the third inning on another two-run homer, this one by Matt Tomczyk, his third of the season.

NJIT picked up a fourth-inning to close the gap to 6-5, but the Broncs scored a pair of runs in the fifth for an 8-5 lead.

NJIT scored twice in the sixth to get back within a run, 8-7, but Texas-Pan American picked up an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning for a 9-7 lead that held up until the decisive bottom of the ninth inning.

The Highlanders, who loaded the bases in the seventh and got two men on in the eighth, but couldn't score either time, got an immediate break to start the ninth. Berner's routine ground ball to third base leading off was thrown away for the only UTPA error in the doubleheader.

Berner went to second base after the wild throw and soon scored when NJIT freshman Marc Prager singled for his second hit of the game. Prager, too, got to second base when the Broncs tried to make a play on Berner at the plate.

Texas-Pan American closer Guadalupe Barrera, who came into the series with four saves, started the ninth inning aiming to protect the two-run lead. Barrera, who had allowed the game-tying three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning vs. NJIT on Friday, followed the Prager base hit by hitting Vincent Del Vecchio with a pitch. He next walked Jeff Pizzi on a 3-2 count to load the bases and then hit Teddy Bickert to force in the tying run and leave the bases loaded for Petrone.

The freshman, hitless in his first 12 at-bats of the series and facing a drawn-in infield and the outfield playing shallow, as well, laced Barrera's first offering over everyone's head to bring home pinch-runner John Gray with the winning run and ignite a celebration, as the exuberant Highlanders poured out of their dugout to mob the hero, Petrone.

Barrera, the last of six Texas-Pan Am pitchers in the game, is 1-3 on the season along with his four saves. Luis Flores started and allowed five runs in three innings. AJ Franco and Doug Roth, the two pitchers who immediately preceded Barrera in the game, combined to allow no runs on four hits and two walks in three innings.

The winning pitcher for NJIT was reliever DJ Roche, who is 2-0 after pitching the last two innings of the comeback victory. He allowed one hit and held the Broncs scoreless over the last two innings.

The Highlanders' starting pitcher, Mark Leiter Jr., battled through seven innings despite a rocky beginning that saw him allow five first-inning runs. He finished allowing 12 hits and nine runs (eight earned), while walking five and striking out two.

Both NJIT pitchers benefitted from some terrific infield defense, particularly up-the-middle plays by Del Vecchio, the shortstop, and Tomczyk, the second baseman. Tomczyk had six putouts and seven assists, while Del Vecchio had four putouts and eight assists, and they combined with Bickert, the freshman first baseman, on an NJIT Division I-record four ground ball double plays in the contest.

At the plate, James D'Aloia, batting leadoff for the first time this season, was 4-for-4. Del Vecchio was 3-for-4, raising his totals for the three-game series to 7-for-11 with six runs batted in and his season batting average to .274. Four other Highlanders got one hit apiece in the second game.

Texas-Pan American, which had 13 hits in the nightcap, got seven of them from the last three men in its batting order. Number seven hitter Ira Hernandez had two hits; number eight man Billy Donaho had three hits; and, number nine hitter Alex San Juan, making his first start of the series, got two hits.

1B Garrett Bivone, batting second, was 2-for-5 in the game and is 7-for-16 so far in the series. Ranked 25th nationally in batting average in the latest NCAA Division I statistics, Bivone is now batting .432 with 32 runs batted in on the season.

The Broncs got four of their five first-inning runs on two-run homers by Thomas Tovar and Hernandez.

Saturday's first game was a easy for the visitors, who scored in all but two of the seven innings, including three runs apiece in the second and third innings.

Bivone had three hits, while Vincent Mejia, Mike McCarthy and Ryan Vest all had two hits apiece. Garcia hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot, in the seventh inning.

Starting pitcher Cody Plunk and reliever AJ Franco combined for the seven-inning three-hit shutout. Plunk (3-2) worked the first six innings, allowing the three hits, all singles, while striking out eight and walking two. Franco retired all three Highlanders he faced in the seventh inning, striking out two.

Bobby Wyrwa (2-4) started and took the loss for the Highlanders. He allowed nine hits and eight runs in five innings.

Two of NJIT's three hits in the game came off the bat of Prager, who was 2-for-3 in the opener and 2-for-4 in the nightcap. The freshman, who was batting .150 entering the month of April, is 17-for-46 (.370) this month, lifting his season's average to .303.

Saturday's doubleheader split left NJIT with a 6-5 record in the Great West Conference and 10-26 overall. Texas-Pan American is 14-21 overall and 3-8 in the Great West. The one-run game in the nightcap was the 10th such contest this season for the Highlanders who are 3-7 in the tight matchups and 1-2 in GWC one-run games.

NJIT and Texas-Pan American are slated to wrap up the four-game Great West Conference series with a single contest on Sunday at 9 am. The game is scheduled to be played at Yogi Berra Stadium on the Montclair State University campus.