Box score

WINSTON-SALEM, NC—Wake Forest, ranked 24th in the nation in Division I by Collegiate Baseball, took control early against visiting NJIT Wednesday afternoon, but the Highlanders fought back and closed to within 10-7 in the top of the seventh inning before finally succumbing, 12-7, as the Demon Deacons won their 15th straight.
 
Wake, which extended its longest winning streak since the 1999 season, scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, two in the second and five in the third to build a 10-1 lead through three innings.
 
NJIT, which had gotten on the board with a run in the second inning, added single scores in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, before a four-run top of the seventh put some heat on the powerful hosts, trimming what had been a nine-run advantage down to 10-7.
 
Wake Forest, held scoreless in innings four through six, then added one run each in the seventh and eighth innings to arrive at the 12-7 final in the first all-time meeting between the programs.
 
Wednesday's result left Wake Forest at 16-4 on the season, while NJIT falls to 4-6.
 
Wake Forest opened the season by losing three of four at New Mexico State and then dropped its home opener to High Point, 16-15. But the Demon Deacons beat UMBC on February 24 and haven't lost since.
 
They opened play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one the elite leagues in college baseball, by sweeping a three-game series from Maryland, which had been ranked, last weekend and then topped another traditionally strong program, Georgia Southern, on Tuesday, 14-4, before taking on the Highlanders.
 
NJIT, which began the season 4-2, had lost a three-game weekend series in South Carolina to Presbyterian over the weekend before visiting Wake Forest.
 
Freshman RHP Connor Kaden, the second of six Wake Forest pitchers, was credited with his first college win, pitching the fifth inning and allowing two hits and a lone unearned run. He is from Toms River, NJ.
 
Wake Forest starter Matt Pirro, a freshman RHP, was effective, but did not go the five innings required for a starter to earn credit for a win. He pitched the first four innings, allowing five hits and two runs (one earned), while walking one and striking out two.
 
NJIT did most of its damage against redshirt junior RHP Daniel Marrs, who was drafted after high school and was regarded as a top pro prospect after his freshman year of college. Marrs, the fourth Wake Forest pitcher of the day, pitched two-thirds of an inning and was charged with four runs on two hits and two walks.
 
The losing pitcher for the Highlanders was starter Jake Porcello (0-2). Also a pro draft choice after his senior year of high school at Seton Hall Prep, Porcello attended Seton Hall University and played there in 2010, before transferring to NJIT, where he sat out 2011 under NCAA transfer rules.
 
Taking his first start as a Highlander, Porcello worked behind in the count consistently on Wednesday and he paid the price against the nationally-ranked Demon Deacons. His final line was: 2.1 innings, 7 hits, 8 runs, 4 walks, 1 strikeout, 1 wild pitch, and 1 hit by pitch.
 
NJIT's first reliever, freshman RHP Bill VanMeerbeke, allowed two runs when he took over for Porcello in the third inning and another run with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but the rookie gave his team three straight scoreless innings from the fourth through the sixth, buying time for his teammates to work their way back into contention.
 
VanMeerbeke, who was unscored upon in three innings over two previous appearances, finished his outing at Wake Forest with four innings, four hits, three runs, a walk and six strikeouts. He struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth, setting the stage for NJIT's four-run rally half an inning later in the top of the seventh.
 
Matt Coughlin and Austin McAuliffe followed VanMeerbeke to the mound and they combined for 1.2 innings, with two hits and one run.
 
Five different Wake Forest hitters got at least two hits apiece, topped by sophomore RF James Harris, who was 3-for-4 and drove in two runs. Harris, too, was drafted following his senior year in high school.
 
Putting up two hits apiece for Wake, which had 13 hits as a team were: CF Evan Stephens, 2B Conor Keniry, 3B Jack Carey, and SS Stephen Schoettmer. Stephens, Keniry, Harris, and Carey all doubled, while 1B Carlos Lopez hit his sixth home run of the season and Schoettmer powered his first. Lopez (1-for-2) drove in a game-best four runs, while Harris and C Brett Armour collected two RBI each.
 
NJIT, with 10 hits, was paced by freshman 3B Brian Keane's 3-for-5. He scored twice and drove in a run, including his first college home run. Senior OF James D'Aloia, junior C DJ Roche, and freshman CF Ed Charlton all picked up a pair of hits each for the Highlanders, as D'Aloia and Charlton each doubled. Senior DH Bryan Bleakley (1-for-4) joined Keane in the home run department. Bleakley has two homers on the year and drove in three runs on Wednesday, while D'Aloia had two, raising his team-leading season RBI total to 13.
 
Wake Forest struck for three runs in the first inning, as Stephens singled and Keniry doubled to open the frame and Lopez drove in the first run on a ground out before Carey and Armour knocked across runs on singles.
 
NJIT got its first run in the second when Roche singled leading off and, after an out, Keane reached on an error, sending Roche on to third, where he scored on Charlton's single.
 
The home team struck for two more runs in the second and then five in the third for a 10-1 lead. VanMeerbeke took over from Porcello with two runs across in the third and he allowed an inherited runner to score and then the two-run Lopez home run before avoiding any more damage.
 
The Highlanders got one run on Keane's leadoff homer in the fourth and another on a Bleakley sacrifice fly in the fifth, driving home D'Aloia and making the score 10-3.
 
Meanwhile, VanMeerbeke set down Wake in order in the fourth and fifth, and struck out the side, with one walk in the sixth. In all, he retired 10 of 11 batters in one stretch, fanning six and walking one.
 
Then came the top of the seventh. Marrs walked Roche on four pitches to lead off and Bleakley homered on the first pitch he saw, making the score 10-5. Keane then singled and, after a strikeout, advanced on a wild pitch. After a ground out that moved Keane to third base, Marrs walked Mike Rampone and then gave way to sophomore LHP John McLeod, who hit Matt Weckerle to load the bases with two outs. D'Aloia followed with a two-run single that pulled NJIT to within three runs, 10-7, but the threat ended there.
 
VanMeerbeke remained on the mound for NJIT to open the bottom of the seventh and Wake Forest's Schoettmer homered to lead off. Coughlin then took over the pitching for the Highlanders and got out of the inning with Wake Forest leading, 11-7.
 
The Highlanders went down 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth inning and Wake Forest added another run against the fourth Highlander pitcher, junior LHP Austin McAuliffe. NJIT got a walk for senior Anthony Caiola to lead off the ninth, but he was left there when Wake Forest's Colin Egan set down the next three batters to end the game.
 
NJIT will return to New Jersey for the annual Strike Out Cancer tournament this weekend at Seton Hall. The Highlanders will have two games in the tournament, taking on Maine at 4 pm on Friday and then host Seton Hall on Sunday at 2 pm.
 
Both Maine and Seton Hall played in the 2011 NCAA Division I Tournament after capturing the championships of their respective conference tournaments, for Maine, the America East, and for Seton Hall, the Big East.
 
NJIT coach Mike Cole and Maine coach Steve Trimper have long-standing ties. Trimper was the assistant coach who recruited Cole to play at the University of Vermont. And Trimper later hired Cole to be his assistant coach, first at Manhattan and then at Maine, where Cole assisted Trimper in 2010 before being selected as head coach at NJIT ahead of the 2011 season.