Box score
JERSEY CITY, NJ—Saint Peter's scored the game's first 10 runs in the opening three innings and the Peacocks went on to an 11-5 win over visiting NJIT in Wednesday afternoon non-conference baseball at Jaroschak Field.
Saint Peter's took control with a six-run outburst in the bottom of the second inning and added four more runs in the next frame to seize a commanding 10-0 lead through three innings.
NJIT scored its first run in the fourth inning and added four in the sixth to trim the deficit to 10-5.
But once the Peacocks picked up a lone run in the bottom of the sixth inning that was it for either team, even though NJIT loaded the bases in the seventh and left two men on base in the eighth and Saint Peter's stranded five baserunners over its last three half-innings at bat.
Saint Peter's used six pitchers to secure the win, including the starting and winning pitcher, Dom Macaluso, who raised his record to 4-6 with five innings that saw him allow six hits and three bases-on-balls, but just one run.
He is part of the Peacocks' three-man rotation of starting pitchers when it plays in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, as is freshman Mike Schaaf, who blanked the Highlanders as a reliever in the eighth inning. Schaaf is the reigning MAAC Pitcher of the Week.
NJIT got four of its five runs against the first SPC reliever, Joe Jimenez.
The Highlanders, too, used six pitchers, including Kyle Burdi, who is part of his team's four-man Great West Conference starting rotation. Burdi started and lost for NJIT, allowing five earned runs (nine total) in 2.2 innings. He is 0-4 on the year.
The first NJIT reliever, Steven Ace, entered with two outs and two runs already on the board in what turned out to be a four-run third inning for the Peacocks. He induced a ground ball, but an error on the play extended the inning and Saint Peter's added two runs to its total.
Saint Peter's, which scored 10 runs in the second and third innings combined, accumulated seven of its 11 total hits in those two innings and all five of NJIT's errors in the game also took place in those two fateful frames.
John Gray, Reid Okita, and DJ Roche all turned in shutout relief innings for the Highlanders.
Saint Peter's got three hits from 3B Brian Koster and two hits each from C Brian Schroeder and RF Matt Mancini. 2B Conor Mullee and 1B Tom Bouck each drove in a pair of runs for the Peacocks in their six-run second inning. Tom Bouck, a freshman, is the younger brother of NJIT sophomore C John Bouck.
NJIT's hits leader was Jeffrey Pizzi, who finished 3-for-4. Matt Tomczyk and Bryan Bleakley each added a pair of hits for the Highlanders.
Matt Petrone had a double for NJIT's lone extra-base hit and Teddy Bickert, who had a hit, drove in two runs for the Highlanders. Bickert singled to drive in the first run in the fourth inning and then he drove a sacrifice fly in NJIT's four-run sixth inning. Pizzi singled for an RBI in the frame and Petrone's double sent another run home in the sixth.
Next on the schedule for the Highlanders is a four-game Great West Conference series this weekend against New York Institute of Technology.
The first game of the series is slated for 3 pm on Friday at NYIT on Long Island. The teams are scheduled for a doubleheader on Saturday at NYIT, as well, followed by a single game in Newark at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium on Sunday at 1 pm.
