Box score
GRAND FORKS, ND—With no room for error before the game started, NJIT saw its 2011 baseball season end on the third day of the Great West Conference Tournament, as the Highlanders allowed a season-high 17 runs on Thursday in a 17-3 loss to Houston Baptist at the University of North Dakota's Kraft Field.
The Huskies (20-39), who split the four regular season games against NJIT (20-35), took control fast on Thursday, with four runs in the top of the first inning. They later removed all doubt about the outcome with an 11-run fifth inning and then added on two more runs in the sixth. The Highlanders scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the fifth after HBU had pounded them for 11 in the top half. The game was halted after the seventh inning under the conference 10-run rule.
Houston Baptist, 2-1 in the tournament, advances to the next stage on Friday, when it will be one of four remaining teams with a shot at the championship. The Highlanders, 1-2 in the tournament, are out of the double elimination field.
HBU, seeded third, won its opening game against in-state rival Texas-Pan American, but then was upset by the host, #7 North Dakota, setting the stage for Thursday's game with NJIT. The Highlanders, seeded fifth, opened the tournament with 3-2 loss to #4 NYIT, but bounced back and stayed alive with a 5-2 win over Chicago State, eliminating the Cougars.
The winning pitcher for the Huskies was senior LHP Jamie Storey (2-8), who pitched the first six innings and scattered eight hits, allowing three runs (one earned), without a walk, plus one strikeout. Sophomore LHP Matt Warren finished up with an easy seventh inning.
DJ Roche (2-5), who was an all-GWC utility player, in part for his work as NJIT's number three starting pitcher in conference games, when he posted a 4.12 earned run average and a 2-3 won-lost record, had a rough day from the beginning of his first tournament start and took the loss.
Roche, who was on the mound at the onset of HBU's 11-run eruption in the fifth inning, was credited with four innings pitched and charged with seven runs on seven hits, four walks, and a hit batter.
He was followed to the mound by four relievers and the deficit only got worse against the first three, who combined to allow 10 runs in two innings. Only the fourth and final reliever, senior RHP John Prestano, was effective, allowing a hit and no runs in his final college inning.
The Huskies, who pounded out 17 hits, got three each from LF Luke Clements, who hit his fifth home run of the year, scored three runs and drove in three runs; RF Kolby Arnst, who scored three times and had an RBI; and, 3B Tanner Kalina, who was 3-for-3 with two runs batted in. Three other Houston Baptist hitters got two hits apiece, including CF Jake Gonzalez, who was 2-for-5, including a home run, and drove in a game-high five runs. In all, the Houston Baptist onslaught had four doubles, a triple, and two home runs.
Even though it paled when compared to HBU's attack, NJIT's offense was not shut down, getting eight hits, including a double for freshman RF Matt Weckerle. Weckerle (2-for-4), Bryan Bleakley (2-for-3), and Tyler Kapp (2-for-3) were the Highlanders with more than one hit each.
The runs batted in came from Matt Tomczyk, Roche, and Vincent Del Vecchio.
Tomczyk, the only senior position player for NJIT, ended his final season batting a team-best .318, with 40 runs scored (first on the team; second-best in school DI history), 12 doubles (second in 2011), a triple, four home runs (tied for second), 27 RBI (second), a .413 on-base percentage (first) and eight stolen bases (first) in 11 tries. He also had two saves in four pitching appearances, his first mound work since 2009.
Roche finished with a .276 batting average, a school-record 17 doubles, three triples, four home runs (tied for second), and 44 runs batted in (first in 2011; tied for the school record).
Houston Baptist combined four hits, two walks, a hit by pitch, and a late throw on a fielder's choice to put up four runs in the opening half-inning. Clements led off with a double and was followed by a walk and a bunt single. With the bases loaded, cleanup hitter Robbie Buller reached safely on a fielder's choice, pushing across the first run. A hit-by-pitch forced home the second run and the third run scored when Roche got a double play. However, Kalina delivered a two-out double and it was 4-0 before the Highlanders ever stepped into the batter's box.
NJIT had two baserunners in the bottom of the first and a leadoff single in the second, but couldn't do anything with either opportunity.
Roche bounced back from the rough opening inning, allowing just one hit from the second inning through the fourth.
However, the Highlanders went down in order in both the third and fourth innings, leaving the score at 4-0 before Houston Baptist exploded for 11 runs and 10 hits in the fifth inning against Roche, Austin McAuliffe, and Kyle Burdi.
The first three batters of the inning reached base for HBU, knocking Roche from the mound and Gonzalez greeted McAuliffe with an RBI double. The Huskies continued to score and later in the frame Clements tripled home a run and was followed by a run-scoring single that brought Burdi to the mound for NJIT. His first batter, Arnst, tripled home yet another run and after a hit-by-pitch, Gonzalez, batting for the second time in the inning, hit a three-run homer for the ninth, 10th, and 11th runs of the inning.
NJIT did all of its scoring in the bottom half, as Anthony Caiola and Kapp opened with back-to-back singles. They executed a double steal and Caiola came home on Del Vecchio's grounder to third base that was thrown away for an error. Kapp came home on a ground out by Tomczyk and the third run scored on a two-out single by Roche.
The Huskies closed out the scoring after two were out in the sixth. Asai Adams walked and soon scored on a home run by Clements that made it 17-3.
NJIT's three seniors, Tomczyk, Prestano (1-1, 5.46 ERA in 14 games, all in relief, and 29.2 innings), and Steven Ace (0-1, 5.40 ERA in 12 games, all in relief, and 18.1 innings) all completed their college careers for the Highlanders.
