NEWARK, NJ—Utah Valley began defense of its 2010 Great West Conference baseball title on Friday with two airtight wins in the opening 2011 conference doubleheader, defeating NJIT in the first game, 5-3, thanks to a pair of ninth-inning runs and then edging the persistent Highlanders in the 14-inning nightcap, 9-8, at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

Utah Valley, which was 26-2 in Great West play (4-0 vs. NJIT), got all it could have wanted from the Highlanders in their first 2011 encounter on Friday.

In the opener, the teams were deadlocked at 3-3 heading into the ninth inning, whenUVU  DH Austin Heaps broke the tie with a towering sacrifice fly in the ninth inning. Kirk Doxey, who had walked leading off the inning, scored from third and when Heap's fly ball dropped for an error, Chris Benson scored from second base with an unearned insurance run.

The winning pitcher in the opener was junior RHP Ryan Chadwick (1-1) who did not allow a hit or a run in working the last two innings. Blake Krahenbuhl, a sophomore right-hander, started and allowed 3 runs and 7 hits in 7 innings.

The losing pitcher for NJIT was sophomore RHP Kyle Burdi, who worked 2.1 innings in relief of the starter, sophomore LHP Austin McAuliffe, who pitched the first 6.2 innings. McAuliffe allowed 4 hits and 3 runs (2 earned). Burdi (1-4) allowed 2 hits and 2 runs (1 earned).

Both Highlander pitchers were hurt by bases-on-balls, as McAuliffe issued five and Burdi allowed three. Four of the five Utah Valley runs were scored by men who had walked, including all three runs scored by the leadoff man, Doxey.

Utah Valley had scored a run in the first inning, but NJIT answered with two in the bottom half. The Wolverines went ahead in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run home run by 2B Cole McWhorter, his third homer of the season.

However, the Highlanders had a rapid response in the bottom of the frame, when Teddy Bickert homered leading off to tie the score at 3-3. It was Bickert's second home run of the season and his second in as many games.

McWhorter (2-for-2) was the only UVU player with more than one hit and he also led the Wolverines with three runs batted in. Bickert and Matt Weckerle each collected a pair of hits for NJIT. Jeff Peterson had one hit and finished with two RBI.

The second game was filled with drama and made two important marks in the NJIT record book.

The drama came from NJIT comebacks to tie the score in four separate innings, including three different times in extra innings.

The length of the game, 14 innings, tied for the longest in NJIT's Division I era (began with the 2007 season), matching a 14-inning game against Northeastern (5-4 loss on March 15, 2009 in Seton Hall's Strike Out Cancer Tournament). It was also the most innings ever played by Utah Valley.

NJIT's starting pitcher, sophomore right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. entered the school record book with a Division I era-best 13 strikeouts in 9 innings. The reigning Great West Conference Pitcher of the Week allowed 4 hits and 3 runs (all in the second inning) and walked 4 along with his record-setting strikeout total.

Leiter's 13 Ks against Utah Valley surpassed the old mark of 12, set by Matt Melody against UMBC in Florida on March 19, 2009.

Three relievers followed Leiter and the second, senior RHP Steven Ace, took the loss in his first decision of the year on two innings pitched. He allowed 3 runs (2 earned).

The winner for Utah Valley was its third pitcher, junior RHP Josh Swenson (1-1). Swenson, who came in with 3 saves and a team-leading 2.08 earned run average, managed the victory despite allowing 5 hits, 2 walks and 3 runs in 4.1 innings.

NJIT finished the game with 16 hits and Utah Valley had 10, the biggest by sophomore SS Kai Hatch, who singled through the left side to score Jason Zundel from third base with what proved to be the winning run in the top of the 14th inning. Hatch finished 2-for-6 and drove in 3 runs.

Heaps, the junior designated hitter who had the game-winning RBI in the ninth inning of game one, was 4-for-7 in the nightcap, with two RBI and three runs scored. C Alex Exon, who did not play in the first game, drove in a pair of runs in game two.

NJIT had three men with three hits each—SS Matt Tomczyk, Weckerle, and Bickert. The Highlanders also got two hits apiece out of Peterson and Tyler Kapp .

Each team posted three runs in the opening two innings, but then the pitchers, especially Leiter, took over and the teams traded zeros for seven straight innings.

Leiter, who had allowed all three of his runs in the second inning, left two men on base in the third and then retired the next 13 straight UVU batters from the start of the fourth inning until one was out in the eighth. Eight of the 13 consecutive outs came on strikeouts. Leiter finished his day by fanning the last four batters he faced, getting the last out in the eighth inning and then striking out the side in the ninth.

NJIT had scored a run in the first inning and Utah Valley answered with three in the top of the second. The Highlanders rallied for two runs in the bottom of the second inning to tie the score at 3-3 and it would stay that way until the 10th inning, when a remarkable sequence of innings began.

In a game scheduled for seven innings, NJIT left two men on base in the bottom of the ninth ahead of UVU scoring twice in the top of the 10th. However, two-out RBI singles by Bickert and Tomczyk kept the Highlanders alive in the bottom half.

After a scoreless 11th inning, UVU surged ahead with a run in the top of the 12th, only to have the Highlanders stay alive with a run of its own when Kapp scored on a wild pitch.

In the 13th, the Wolverines scored two runs and again, NJIT answered with two runs. Weckerle opened with a single and DJ Roche, who had caught the first 22 innings of the day, followed with a slicing double down the right field line. Anthony Caiola drove in the first run with a bouncing infield out to the right side and later, with two outs again, Vincent Del Vecchio singled to drive in the tying run.

Finally, Utah Valley came up with a run that couldn't be answered, as Hatch's single brought home Zundel with their team's ninth run and Swenson finished off the win with a 1-2-3 bottom of the 14th on the mound.

The marathon doubleheader that went just more than eight hours from first pitch to last left Utah Valley with a 9-17 overall record and 2-0 in the Great West, while NJIT is 5-17 and 0-2.

Of NJIT's last 14 games, 11 have been decided by margins of one or two runs. NJIT is 3-8 in those close games, including Friday's doubleheader. Three of the eight losses for the rebuilding Highlanders have been in extra innings.

NJIT and Utah Valley are scheduled for two more games this weekend, beginning with a 6:30 pm game Saturday night at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.