Box score
OLD WESTBURY, NY—NYIT scored eight times in the seventh inning, exploding its lead from one run to nine, and the Bears went on to a 14-6 win Sunday over visiting NJIT in the last of a four-game weekend Great West Conference baseball series between the teams.
The first three games, played in Newark, were close, with NYIT winning 7-6 in 10 innings on Friday night before the Highlanders came back with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, 2-0 and 10-9.
Sunday's game, too, was close until the late going. NYIT got a run in the first inning, but the Highlanders scored three in the top of the second inning and the Bears answered with another run in the bottom half to trail 3-2 through two.
NYIT picked up a pair of runs in the fourth inning and one in the fifth for a 5-3 lead, but NJIT tied the score with two runs of its own in the top of the sixth inning. The tie was short-lived, however, as the Bears scored a run in the bottom of the sixth for a 6-5 lead.
Then came the Bears' eight-run seventh inning that blew the game open and after a scoreless eighth inning, the Highlanders scored once in the ninth inning, bringing the teams to the 14-6 final.
The Sunday win for NYIT, which produced a split of the four-game series, left the Bears with an 8-9 record in the Great West Conference and a 12-26 mark overall. NJIT is 6-14 in the Great West and 13-31 overall.
The Highlanders have played five Great West Conference series, splitting three and being swept in two. The splits came against Houston Baptist, Texas-Pan American, and now, NYIT. The sweeps were at the hands of the top two teams in the conference--defending champion Utah Valley, which is in first place, and Northern Colorado, which finished second in 2010 and stands second again this season.
The remaining two GWC series for NJIT are next weekend at North Dakota and then the weekend of May 19-21 at home against Chicago State.
The winning pitcher on Sunday was NYIT sophomore RHP Ryan Dillabough (3-3), who started and pitched 6 innings, allowing 9 hits and 5 runs (2 earned), with 6 strikeouts and 3 walks. Dillabough had picked up his fourth save when he got the final out of the Bears' 7-6 win in 10 innings against NJIT in the series opener Friday night.
Senior RHP Preston Wasmund backed up Dillabough with two innings of scoreless relief and freshman RHP Michael Iglesias worked the final inning for the Bears, allowing one run.
NJIT's starter, sophomore LHP Austin McAuliffe, was tagged with his fifth loss in five decisions after allowing 6 runs (4 earned) in 5 innings. McAuliffe was followed by four relievers and the first three combined to allow eight runs in two innings, as the game got out of hand. The final NJIT hurler, freshman RHP Joe Fasano, worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning in his first college pitching appearance on his native Long Island.
Victorious NYIT had 13 hits, four of which went for extra bases, including home runs for 1B Effrey Valdez and LF Sebastian Grazziani. Valdez finished 3-for-4, while Grazziani, Ali Rodriguez, Steve McNamara and Rob Loftus all collected two hits apiece.
Grazziani and Rodriguez both drove in three runs each, while Valdez, Loftus and George Carroll all had two runs batted in.
NJIT had 11 hits of its own, including the team-leading fifth home run of the year for Bryan Bleakley and doubles by Matt Tomczyk and Vincent Del Vecchio.
Bleakley and Del Vecchio each had a pair of hits, as did Teddy Bickert. Also noteworthy, sophomore Tripp Davis, who had previously appeared in 26 career games, all as a starting pitcher, started at first base on Sunday and went 1-for-2 in his college hitting debut.
Although the NJIT pitchers yielded 13 hits on Sunday, they also issued eight walks and hit a batter.
Indeed, NYIT's crucial eight-run seventh inning included only three hits, but also had five walks and a hit-by-pitch. However, the three hits were productive, as Carroll drove home two with a single; Loftus drove in a run on an infield single; and, Rodriguez added two RBI with a double. Grazziani walked with the bases loaded to bring home a run and later scored on a passed ball and Rodriguez stole home to account for the other three runs.
The Bears scored a run in the opening inning when Valdez singled to drive in Ryan Campbell who had doubled ahead of him.
The Highlanders took a 3-1 lead in the top of the second inning, as Bleakley singled to lead off and then Tyler Kapp singled with one out. Del Vecchio followed with a double, scoring Bleakley. Davis walked to load the bases and then Tomczyk's grounder to second, which resulted in an error, brought in Kapp with NJIT's second run. Del Vecchio, who moved up to third base on the play, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Bickert.
NYIT scored an unearned run in the bottom of the second, closing the gap to 3-2, where the score stayed until the Bears scored twice in the bottom of the fourth for a 4-3 lead on Grazziani's two run homer.
Valdez homered with one out and no one on base to make it 5-3, NYIT, through five innings before the Highlanders rallied to tie in the sixth inning. Del Vecchio opened with a single and after an out, Tomczyk doubled, bringing in Del Vecchio with the first run of the sixth. After Bickert reached on an error, DJ Roche singled to score Tomczyk and tie the game at 5-5. The RBI was Roche's team-leading 31st.
NJIT's starter, McAuliffe, faced one batter in the sixth inning, NYIT's McNamara, who singled. McNamara eventually scored the go-ahead run later in the frame, which resulted in McAuliffe becoming the pitcher of record on the losing side.
Steven Ace came on in relief for the Highlanders and retired the first two batters he faced, although McNamara stole second base--one of seven steals for the Bears on the day--in the process. With two outs, Loftus singled for NYIT, driving in McNamara to give the Bears a 6-5 lead.
Wasmund, the first NYIT reliever retired the Highlanders in order in the top of the seventh inning and then the Bears blew the game open in the bottom half of the inning with their eight runs.
NJIT's last run came when Bleakley homered leading off the ninth inning.
With exams taking place, the next game action for the Highlanders is a weekend Great West Conference series for the Highlanders at North Dakota, beginning with a 3 pm (CDT) single game on Friday.
