NEWARK, NJ—NJIT managed just two hits in each game of Friday's Great West Conference baseball doubleheader vs. Houston Baptist, but the pitching of Mark Leiter Jr in the nightcap, some HBU fielding mistakes in the same game, and good timing allowed the Highlanders to gain a split at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

Houston Baptist was an 11-0 winner in the seven-inning first game, but NJIT bounced back for a 3-1 win in the second game. Friday's split left HBU at 7-3 in the Great West and 9-27 overall, while NJIT is 3-7 in the conference and 10-22 overall. The Highlanders are 8-9 in April.

Leiter (3-1) went all 9 innings and scattered 5 hits, while striking out 7 and walking 6. His record in three conference starts is 2-0 with a 2.52 earned run average in 25 innings. He has 30 strikeouts and opponents are batting .189 against him in the three conference contests.

The HBU starter, senior LHP Jamie Storey, pitched a tremendous game, as well, but took the loss in hard-luck fashion. Storey threw a complete game, allowing just 2 hits and 2 walks, with 4 strikeouts, but he was victimized by 3 unearned runs.

NJIT got the first run of the nightcap in the bottom of the third inning. Anthony Caiola reached on an error leading off and went to second on a walk to John Bouck. They were bunted ahead one base and Caiola came home on NJIT's first hit of the game, a sharp single to left center field by Matt Tomczyk, who would get both hits for the Highlanders in the second game and finish 2-for-4.

That run held up until the top of the eighth inning, when HBU's Jake Gonzalez hit a one-out solo shot over the left field fence for his second home run of the season. Leiter managed to shake off the disappointment from the home run by retiring the next two batters on ground outs.

The Highlanders reclaimed the lead with two unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. With one out and a runner on second, Vincent Del Vecchio reached on a fielder's choice that saw HBU pick up the second out of the inning. Tomczyk followed with his second single, advancing Del Vecchio to third.

Teddy Bickert grounded the ball to the shortstop, who bobbled and threw the ball away looking for the force at second, as Del Vecchio scored the go-ahead run. Tomczyk, who had been the runner sliding in at second base, moved to third on the throw and later stole home, scoring NJIT's third run on the front end of a runners-on-first-and-third double steal with Bickert.

Leiter hit the second batter of the ninth inning with a pitch, but was unscathed otherwise, nailing down his second complete game of the year.

David Pfuntner, the Huskies leadoff man, was 2-for-5 in the second game, including a double. The other three HBU hits against Leiter were the home run for Gonzalez and three singles. The Huskies left the bases loaded in the first inning and stranded two more in the seventh inning, leaving a total of nine men on base in the game.

In the opener, Houston Baptist junior RHP Dalton Schafer was dominant, pitching a complete-game two-hitter. Schafer, who came in with a deceptive 1-8 won-lost record due to being his team's number one starter and facing strong competition throughout the season, walked the NJIT leadoff batter, Tomczyk and then retired the next 17 batters he faced before Tomczyk reached an error with two outs in the sixth inning.

Schafer took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and got one out before DJ Roche broke it up with a slicing line drive to right field. Jeff Peterson then followed with another NJIT single before the game ended on a double play.

The HBU pitcher, who got a lot of hitters out early in the count, finished with a two-hitter, striking out three and walking one.

The Huskies finished with 15 hits, 11 of which from the fifth inning on. Gonzalez led the way with three hits, while four other HBU players had two hits apiece. Robbie Buller (2-for-4) drove in three runs and four Huskies each drove in a pair of runs. Gonzalez and Buller had doubles and the other 13 hits were singles.

The NJIT starter, Roche, took the loss, falling to 0-3 on the season. He pitched 4.2 innings, allowing 8 runs (1 earned), with 7 hits, 5 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Three relievers combined to yield eight hits and three runs.

After the teams played four scoreless innings in game one, Houston Baptist broke out for nine runs in the top of the fifth inning. The Huskies sent 13 batters to the plate and got five hits, including four with two outs, when the inning should have been over if not for a misplay when HBU's second batter put down a sacrifice bunt.

Pfuntner (2-for-4) led off with a walk and Collin Hetzler (2-for-4) reached first base when his sacrifice bunt was misplayed on a bad catch on the throw from catcher to the fielder covering first base.

Buller drove in the first run with a line drive sacrifice fly to right field and Gonzalez followed with a run-scoring double into the right field corner. Luke Clements then drove home two runs with a two-out bases-loaded single up the middle. After a walk, Pfuntner, in his second at-bat of the inning, drove in two more runs with a chopper through the left side of the infield.

The NJIT starter, Roche, struck out the side in the opening inning, but had to work hard the rest of his day. He escaped without any runs through four innings, but left the bases loaded in the second inning and stranded two more in the third. He gave way to reliever John Prestano after the Pfuntner single in the fifth.

Hetzler greeted Prestano with an RBI single and Buller hit a two-run double hard into the left field corner before the inning finally ended with a fly out to right field.

The Huskies finished off opening-game scoring with two runs in the top of the seventh inning, as Hetzler and Gonzalez had RBI singles.

The teams are scheduled to play another doubleheader, weather permitting, Saturday starting at 3 pm at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

Any weather-related changes to Saturday's schedule will be posted on www.njithighlanders.com as soon as they become known on Saturday morning.