BRONX, NY—NJIT, which trailed by five runs halfway through the game, rallied for a 7-6 baseball win over Saint Peter's Saturday at Jack Coffey Field on the campus of Fordham University.

The Highlanders, who scored their first win of the season on Friday, scored a run in the first inning against Saint Peter's (3-6). But the Peacocks struck for three runs in the second inning, two in the third and one in the top of the fifth inning, for a 6-1 lead.

NJIT (2-3) picked up two runs in the bottom of the frame, one in the sixth and then surged ahead with a three-run bottom of the eighth inning.

Sophomore RHP Kyle Burdi, working in relief, picked up the win with five innings of 5-hit, 1-run work. He struck out three and walked two. He is 1-0.

Senior RHP Craig Hughes, the third of four Saint Peter's pitchers, was tagged with the loss after yielding three runs on two hits and a walk, without recording an out in the eighth inning. Hughes (1-1) had not allowed a run in two previous relief appearances this season.

The Highlanders had seven hits in the game, with LF DJ Roche and 3B Jeff Peterson supplying two hits apiece. Roche, who hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning and later singled for a run in the big eighth inning, drove in three runs total. Peterson hit a three-run double leading off the bottom of the third inning.

Freshman RF Matt Weckerle tripled in the first inning for his first college hit and then stole home to give the Highlanders their 1-0 lead.

Saint Peter's, which had 10 hits, got two apiece from four different players. Six Peacock hits were doubles, including a pair for senior LF Mike LaCava and two for sophomore SS Matt Speckmann. LaCava drove in two runs and 3B Brian Koster, who also had two hits, including a double, drove in one run and scored twice.

NJIT took its brief early lead in the first inning on Weckerle's one-out triple and subsequent steal of home, before the Peacocks jumped ahead against NJIT's starting pitcher, sophomore RHP Mark Leiter Jr..

All three SPC runs in the second inning were unearned, owing to an NJIT error, but Speckmann hit a double and 2B Michael Sciutella, who finished with two hits, had an RBI single in the inning.

The Peacocks made it 5-1 with a pair of third-inning runs, keyed by run-scoring doubles for Koster and LaCava. And Saint Peter's picked up its sixth run, the only one allowed by Burdi, on a run-scoring double by LaCava.

After that, Burdi kept the Peacocks off the board for the rest of the game, allowing his teammates a chance to come back and win.

Burdi had come on for Leiter, who worked the first 4 innings and allowed 5 hits and 2 earned runs (5 total), striking out 8 and walking 4.

The starter for Saint Peter's, freshman RHP Zach Hopf, pitched 5 innings, allowing 4 hits and 3 runs, while walking 3 and fanning 6 Highlanders. Reliever Kevin Croucher allowed an unearned run in two hitless innings before giving way to Hughes to open the eighth.

They got two runs back on Roche's first college home run in the bottom of the fifth. A sophomore, Roche was used mostly as a pitcher in his freshman season and had just 16 at-bats in 2010. 

In the sixth, the Highlanders used a walk, a passed ball and an error to score their fourth run.

Down 6-4 to begin the bottom of the eighth, NJIT scored three times. Vincent Del Vecchio led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Bryan Bleakley followed with a single and Teddy Bickert walked to load the bases.

Saint Peter's coach Derek England then pulled Hughes, who had opened the inning, for junior closer Anthony DeLeo, who has one save this year after notching seven in 2010.

A passed ball pulled NJIT to within at run of the lead at 6-5. John Bouck then hit a sacrifice fly, bringing home Bleakley with the tying run. And Roche singled to score Bickert with what would be the winning run.

Burdi closed out his own win with a strong ninth inning, as he worked around a leadoff error and retired the final three batters.

NJIT and Saint Peter's are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Sunday at Jack Coffey Field on the campus of Fordham University. The starting time of the twinbill has been moved to 10 am in a bid to beat the heavy rains that are forecast for the late afternoon and evening on Sunday.