NEWARK, NJ—Utah Valley completed a four-game Great West Conference sweep of NJIT on Sunday, scoring five runs in the top of the 14th inning for an 8-3 win on getaway day at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

Utah Valley, the defending conference champion, is 4-0 in GWC play and 11-17 overall. NJIT is 0-4 in conference and 5-19 overall. The last three games in the NJIT-UVU series went to extra innings and the Wolverines won all of them.

Since March 20, 13 of NJIT's 16 games have been decided by margins of one or two runs and/or extra innings. With Sunday's defeat, the Highlanders are 3-10 in those recent close game, including 2-4 in extra innings.

The Highlanders held a 3-0 lead with one out in the eighth inning, but Utah Valley's junior 3B Goose Kalunki hits a bases-loaded one-out double into the corner in right field in a 2-2 count, driving home three runs to knot the score.

Kalunki's three-run double punished a one-out error by NJIT earlier in the inning. Highlander starter Tripp Davis, who was brilliant in eight innings, had allowed a leadoff single to Cole McWhorter, but a tailor-made double play ball to shortstop went through for the third NJIT error of the day.

The scoring can't assume a double play, so two of the three runs that scored on Kallunki's bases-clearing double were earned, even though a double play would have cleared the bases and put up two outs ahead of an infield grounder that would have been the third out.

Davis' line showed 8 innings, 8 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), with 13 strikeouts and no walks. The 13 strikeouts tied the NJIT Division I record, which had been set by Mark Leiter Jr just two days earlier in the first 14-inning Utah Valley win. Leiter had struck out 13 and allowed three runs in nine innings. Utah Valley prevailed in that one, 9-8.

After the Wolverines tied Sunday's game in the eighth inning, the teams traded zeros for five innings, as UVU's Kyle Beecher, who entered in the seventh inning, threw five scoreless frames and Ryan Chadwick, who would get the win to go to 2-1 on the season, followed with three shutout innings.

The first NJIT reliever, senior RHP John Prestano, blanked Utah Valley on two hits for five innings and no decision. Sophomore Kyle Burdi pitched the 14th and took the loss. He allowed one hit, but had three walks and a hit batter and was burned by two fielding errors that made all five runs unearned. Burdi's record falls to 1-5.

Billy Burgess was hit by a pitch leading off the top of the 14th inning. Kirk Doxey put down a sacrifice bunt and was safe on an error. McWhorter followed with another sacrifice, moving two runners into scoring position with one out. An intentional walk loaded the bases and Austin Heaps, who would finish the series with nine hits in 21 at-bats, drew another walk, forcing in the go-ahead run for UVU.

Kallunki picked up his fourth RBI of the day when his grounder to second base brought home the second run of the inning and the bases stayed loaded on the play when the Highlanders committed their second error of the inning and fifth of the day.

Kai Hatch, who had delivered the game-winning RBI in each of the two preceding games, walked to force home another run. Alex Exon singled home another run and then Austin Haws plated the fifth run of the frame with a sacrifice fly.

Chadwick, who had won in relief in the series opener, nailed down his second win and the series sweep by setting down the Highlanders in order in the 14th inning.

Each team had 11 hits on Sunday. Benson and Hatch led the Wolverines with three hits each and they both hit doubles. Kallunki was 1-for-7, but his one hit was the huge double in the eighth inning. Exon finished with two hits.

For NJIT, leadoff man Matt Tomczyk had three hits. He led off the 10th inning with a double, but was one of three runners left on base in an inning that included bases loaded and one out.

Jeff Peterson and Vincent Del Vecchio added two hits apiece for NJIT. Each of their second hits came in the 13th inning. With one out, Peterson singled and advanced to second when the next batter, Anthony Caiola, reached base on Utah Valley's second error of the day. Del Vecchio singled to left field, but Peterson was out at the plate trying to score the winning run, when Doxey, who fielded Del Vecchio's single coming in toward the infield and threw on target.

The Highlanders had built their 3-0 lead with single runs in the first, third and sixth innings.

Tomczyk led off the first with a single and was bunted over to second base. Matt Weckerle singled to move Tomczyk ahead to third, where he scored on the first of two UVU errors on the day.

The NJIT senior got things started again in the third inning on a leadoff single and moved up on another sac bunt. DJ Roche doubled to make it 2-0, Highlanders.

Peterson singled to open the sixth for the Highlanders and advanced on a wild pitch. Caiola bunted him to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Del Vecchio.

The visiting Wolverines won all four games in the first GWC baseball series of the season, but even though that's what counts in the conference standings, it barely tells the story of the weekend.

Utah Valley, which won both the regular season conference crown (26-2) and the postseason conference tournament in 2010, the first season of GWC play, came to Newark this weekend and won all four games in its last turn at bat.

On Friday, the Wolverines took the series opener 5-3, scoring two runs in the ninth inning. Then they won the nightcap 9-8 in 14 innings. On Saturday, UVU took an 11-inning decision, 2-0. And then on Sunday, it was an 8-3 14-inning decision.

Before the weekend series, NJIT had played one 14-inning game in its Division I era (began in 2007) and Utah Valley had never played a 14-inning game as a four-year program. This series included two 14-inning games in a span of 45 hours. On top of that, a normal-length Great West Conference series covers 34 innings (three 9-inning games and a seven). NJIT and Utah Valley played 48 innings in about 48 hours.

Utah Valley got strong pitching throughout the series and NJIT has never gotten better starting pitching since it became a Division I program five years ago. The Highlanders also got some strong relief at times, even though all four losses went to the bullpen.

Facing a team that scored 67 runs in four games against the Highlanders when the teams played last year in Utah, NJIT got dramatically improved results from its starters against UVU this time around: Austin McAuliffe, 6.2 innings, 2 earned runs, 6 strikeouts; Mark Leiter Jr, 9 innings, 3 earned runs, 13 strikeouts; DJ Roche, 9 innings, 0 runs, 8 strikeouts; and, Tripp Davis, 8 innings, 2 earned runs, 13 strikeouts. The total from the four starters in the series—32.2 innings, 7 earned runs (1.96 ERA), 40 strikeouts.

NJIT will break from conference play with a non-league home game on Tuesday afternoon at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. The Highlanders will host Iona of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in a 3:30 pm start on Tuesday.