Box score

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ—NJIT battled out of a 4-0 hole to take a late 5-4 lead, but the Highlanders couldn't quite get across the finish line, losing to Fordham, 7-6 in 11 innings in baseball action Sunday at the third annual Strike Out Cancer Tournament hosted by Seton Hall.

Fordham (12-7) built a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning, when NJIT rallied for three runs. The score remained 4-3 for the Rams until the Highlanders (2-7) surged ahead on a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh. However, Fordham knotted the score with a run in the top of the eighth and finally reclaimed the lead in the top of the 11th with two more runs. NJIT got an unearned run in the bottom of the frame, but could not get more, losing by one.

Although no coach is happy with a loss, especially one so close, NJIT's first-year coach Mike Cole should be able to find some positives from the Fordham game. In addition to fighting back against a quality opponent in Fordham, his Highlanders also came back with 6 runs and 11 hits two days after being victims of a complete-game no-hitter on Friday against another strong opponent, Stony Brook, on the first day of the tournament at Seton Hall's Owen T. Carroll Field. Eight different Highlanders got hits against Fordham to help put the Stony Brook game behind them.

Fordham, which totaled 12 hits on Sunday, had five different men with two hits apiece. Among them were LF Stephen McSherry and 1B Alex Kenny, each of whom drove in a pair of runs. Leadoff man CF Ryan Lee had two hits and scored a team-high two runs, while starting RF Tim Twatek had two hits, scored a run and drove in one, while taking the mound in the final frame and earning his second save of the season.

The second Fordham pitcher, Chris Pike, earned the win, allowing two earned runs in 6.2 innings of relief. He allowed 6 hits and 3 total runs, with 7 strikeouts and 2 walks.

NJIT's starter, sophomore RHP Mark Leiter Jr got no decision, but pitched 7.1 innings. He was charged with 9 hits and 5 runs, but four of the runs and five of the hits came in the first three innings. Leiter regrouped to blank Fordham on two hits over the next four innings before the Rams got to him for another run in the eighth.

Another sophomore RHP, Kyle Burdi, relieved Leiter and took the loss, with 2.2 innings pitched and 2 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Burdi came on to get the last two outs in the eighth and then kept Fordham off the board until allowing a pair in the decisive 11th inning.

Sophomore LF DJ Roche went 3-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs for NJIT. Freshman 1B #Tyler Kapp also had two RBI, getting the tying and go-ahead runs in on a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh to give the Highlanders their 5-4 lead.

Senior SS Matt Tomczyk, batting first, got two hits for NJIT, while C Bryan Bleakley and 2B Vincent Del Vecchio each scored twice for the Highlanders.

Fordham's three-run second inning was the product of four singles and an NJIT throwing error, with Kenny and 2B Ryan Kownacki delivering RBI singles for the Rams.

NJIT had a chance to get some runs back in the bottom half when Roche belted a one-out triple and Kapp was hit by a pitch, but Fordham starter Daniel Munday escaped with back-to-back strikeouts.

The Rams added a run in the top of the third, but NJIT rallied for three runs of its own, with the runs crossing on a ground out by Matt Weckerle and then two on Roche's two-out double. Roche who had just one hit in 16 at-bats in 2010, when he was used mostly as pitcher, now leads the 2011 Highlanders with 7 RBI in 9 games, as he plays as a regular starter in the field as a sophomore.

With Leiter, the NJIT starting pitcher, locking down Fordham, NJIT took its first lead of the day, 5-4, when Kapp, the freshman 1B, singled to left field with two outs to bring home Del Vecchio, who had singled, and Bleakley, who had walked.

Fordham tied it in the eighth inning when Swatek led off with a single, stole second, and went to third on a sacrifice bunt ahead of Kenny's one-out single up the middle, knocking Leiter from the game.

Neither team mounted a threat until Roche led off the bottom of the 10th with his third hit of the day, a single and moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Kapp. But the next two NJIT batters could not deliver Roche with the winning run and the door stayed open for Fordham in the next half-inning.

Lee led off the 11th with a single and Kownacki, the next batter, was hit by a pitch from Burdi. Another sac bunt, Fordham's second of the day, advanced each run a base and McSherry followed with a two-run single to right field. The second out of the inning came on a play at the plate and Burdi notched a strikeout to finish things off with Fordham holding a 7-5 advantage.

Tomczyk led off the bottom of the 11th by reaching second on an infield throwing error. He went to third on an infield out and then scored on Bleakley's run-scoring ground out before Fordham's Swatek picked up the save with the third infield out of the frame.

The Highlanders were set to wrap up play in the tournament on Sunday at 2 pm against host Seton Hall.