Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score


NEWARK, NJ—NJIT used a rousing five-run rally to score an 8-7 walk-off win in the first game of its Great West Conference doubleheader with visiting North Dakota on Saturday. But the Fighting Sioux rode the complete-game pitching of freshman right-hander Jeff Campbell for a 6-3 win in the nightcap, earning the split at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
 
NJIT, which had matched its program Division I-best five-game winning streak with its thrilling walk-off win in the opening game, has now gone 3-1 in each of its first three Great West Conference series and is 9-3 in the Great West and 16-15 overall. The Highlanders, who began Division I competition in 2007, also won five straight this season from March 31 to April 6. That streak, too, ended with a loss in the fourth game of a GWC series (vs. Northern Colorado).
 
North Dakota, which might have won any of the first three games in the series against NJIT with a break here or there, finally broke into the win column in Great West play on its 12th try in Saturday's nightcap. The Fighting Sioux, who started freshman pitchers in all four games of the NJIT series, are 5-28 overall.
 
The highlight of the day for the Highlanders on Saturday was the seventh inning of the opening game. Tied 3-3 after six innings of the scheduled seven-inning contest, NJIT allowed four runs in the top half of the seventh, but rallied for five runs in the bottom of the inning for the 8-7 walk-off win.
 
Sophomore first baseman Tom Bouck's two-out, opposite field bases-loaded double drove in three runs to clinch the win for NJIT, which trailed 7-5 before his hit.
 
Bouck, who had been hitless in three previous at-bats, jumped on the first pitch thrown by North Dakota reliever Kevin Auth, a senior left-hander brought in from the bullpen to face the left-handed hitting Bouck. The hit, a slicing line drive, fell fair out of the reach of the diving UND left fielder Seth Means. Landing a couple of feet beyond the sprawling Means, the ball rolled toward the left field corner as the bases emptied with NJIT's sixth, seventh, and eighth runs.
 
The Highlanders, who managed three runs through the first six innings, put the first two men on base in the seventh against the North Dakota starter Tyler Ruemmele. That brought in redshirt freshman RHP Brock Johnson from the bullpen with a chance for a save. He struck out his first batter and then got SS Matt Weckerle on a ground out that brought in the first NJIT run, but also reduced the Highlanders to facing their final out. It would be an out that never came.
 
LF James D'Aloia singled to make the score 7-5 before DJ Roche and CF Ed Charlton singled to load the bases for Bouck's game-winning double.
 
Proving the baseball adage that momentum is only as good as the next game's starting pitcher, North Dakota freshman right-hander Jeff Campbell saw to it that there would be little carryover from an opening game that was rousing for NJIT and crushing for North Dakota.
 
The 6-foot-4 rookie Campbell (2-5) went all nine innings for the Sioux, allowing seven hits and three runs, while striking out seven and walking one. His effort against the Highlanders was no fluke, as his previous win was a nine-inning six-hitter in a 4-1 UND win on March 16 against Creighton, a program that has played in the NCAA Tournament nine times, including in 2011.
 
North Dakota's offense in the Saturday doubleheader was led by the first two men in its batting order, junior Kris Kwak and freshman Tyler Follis, along with freshman catcher Alex Twenge, who batted eighth in the opener and seventh in the nightcap. Kwak, who had six hits in the series, was 3-for-9 on Saturday. Follis, the shortstop, went 5-for-8 on the day, including a double, and had seven hits in the series. Twenge (.429 in the series; 6-14) was 4-for-7 on Saturday.
 
The NJIT leader on Saturday and for the weekend was Weckerle, who went 4-for-8 Saturday, including a triple and drove in four runs, was a sizzling 10-for-16 (.625) in the series, with a double, triple, home run, and eight RBI. Roche, the reigning GWC and NJ Division I Player of the Week, was 3-for-8 Saturday.
 
Game 1 recap
Sophomore RHP Joe Fasano, who entered in the sixth inning for NJIT and recorded a big out to strand three runners, but allowed four runs (three earned) in the top half of the seventh inning, was the winning pitcher, evening his season record at 1-1. His final line was 1.1 innings, four hits, four runs (three earned), with two strikeouts and no walks.
 
Roche, the NJIT starter, went the first 5.1 innings, allowing four hits and three runs, with four strikeouts and a walk. The first Highlander reliever, junior LHP Austin McAuliffe, got one out and walked two before Fasano entered.
 
For North Dakota, Ruemmele went six innings-plus, allowing five hits and five runs (four earned), with two walks and nine strikeouts. Johnson (1-2) took the loss, getting credit for two-thirds of an inning, with three hits and three unearned runs. He had one strikeout. Auth's only batter was Bouck.
 
The Highlanders, with nine total hits, five of which came in the game-winning rally, got two hits each from Weckerle, Roche, and Charlton.
 
North Dakota (eight hits) got two knocks apiece from Kwak, Follis, and DH Zack Trygstad. Follis and Trygstad both drove in a pair of runs and Follis scored three times. 
 
With the score tied at three apiece going to the seventh inning, North Dakota broke the tie and pulled into a 7-3 lead against Fasano with four runs on four hits, plus an NJIT error that led to one of the runs being unearned. Twenge led off with a single and then the North Dakota catcher came off the field in favor of pinch runner Michael Anastasi at first base. Riley Beck's attempt at a sacrifice was bunted too hard and Fasano, off the mound quickly, fielded it, but threw the ball high and into center field for an error.
 
Kwak then doubled to left center field, driving in Anastasi with the go-ahead run. Follis followed Kwak with another double, this one down the left field line and was good for two more runs. After a strikeout, Trygstad singled with two outs, making it 7-3 for the Fighting Sioux going into the last half-inning.
 
All of the seventh-inning fireworks came after a relatively quiet first six innings that were mostly controlled by the starting pitchers.
 
NJIT got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, started by Weckerle, the sophomore who had been 6-for-8 in Friday night's doubleheader sweep for the Highlanders. With one out, Weckerle singled and then moved to second base when D'Aloia drew a walk. The next batter, Roche, hit a bouncer up the middle that got through for an RBI single.
 
North Dakota broke through for a pair of runs in the fourth inning off of Roche, who had faced the minimum nine batters without allowing a hit through the first three innings. Kwak and Follis opened the frame with singles. After an out, Trygstad singled on a 1-2 pitch to knot the score at 1-1, as Kwak scored and Follis moved up to third base, putting him in position to score the go-ahead run on Kyle Bolander's sacrifice fly out to center field.
 
The Highlanders reclaimed the lead on two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out, Ruemmele, the North Dakota pitcher, hit consecutive batters, Jeff Peterson and Mike Rampone, with pitches. The next batter, Weckerle, stayed hot, stroking a run-scoring single to right field. The play continued with Weckerle getting caught in a rundown halfway between first base and second base. However, the throw from first to second went astray, allowing Rampone to score an unearned run and Weckerle to reach second safely. Ruemmele responded by striking out the next two batters to end the NJIT rally.
 
North Dakota tied the score with a run in the top of the sixth inning, as NJIT used three pitchers to navigate the frame. Facing the top of the Fighting Sioux batting order, Roche retired Kwak before walking Follis and allowing a first-pitch single to Campbell, who was the first baseman in the opening three games before he took the mound for the final game.
 
That brought on junior left-hander Austin McAuliffe to face the left-handed hitting Trygstad, who grounded out, with the runners moving up a base. NJIT opted for an intentional walk of the right-handed hitting Bolander, loading the bases. The lefty-hitting Sam Alt then walked on a 3-2 count, forcing in the tying run. That brought on the third NJIT hurler, Fasano, who notched a strikeout to preserve the tie with the bases loaded.
 
NJIT failed to score in the bottom of the sixth, setting the stage for the wild seventh inning.
 
Game 2 recap
With Campbell getting the complete-game win for the Sioux, he matched up first with NJIT freshman right-hander Bill VanMeerbeke, who had earned his first college win last weekend in his first conference start at Houston Baptist.
 
VanMeerbeke (1-2) was not as his sharpest, but he worked his way through five innings on Saturday, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits, a walk and three strikeouts. Another freshman right-hander, Mike Liegel, pitched the next two innings, allowing three hits and two unearned runs (NJIT made five errors in the game after four miscues combined in the first three games of the series). Sophomore RHP Jake Porcello finished up and he allowed a run in two innings, with one hit and a strikeout.
 
Follis and Twenge each had three hits for North Dakota in the win, while Beck added two hits for the winners.
 
The Highlanders, with seven hits, had the game's only two extra-base hits, a fourth-inning triple by Weckerle and a ninth-inning solo home run by senior Bryan Bleakley. Each man was 2-for-4 in the game and Bleakley's homer was his team-leading fifth of the season.
 
After two scoreless innings, North Dakota broke on top with a couple of runs in the top of the third inning and then made it 3-0 with a run in the fourth inning. NJIT answered that with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth.
 
With Campbell blanking the Highlanders until Bleakley's two-out, bases-empty home run in the ninth, the Sioux scored two in the seventh and one in the ninth for a 6-2 advantage going into the final half-inning.
 
Anastasi, starting the nightcap at second base, led off the third inning with an infield single. Kwak followed with a single and Follis, the third hitter of the inning, singled to drive in a run. The play continued when Follis' hit was misplayed in left field for an error that allowed Kwak to cross the plate with the second run.
 
Twenge led off the fourth inning for the Sioux with a single and he moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt. After a second out, Beck singled to drive home Twenge and make it 3-0.
 
The Highlanders got within a run of the lead on two runs in the fourth. Rampone and Peterson opened the frame with near-identical singles into the hole at shortstop and they both scored when the next hitter, Weckerle, tripled down the right field line. With no one out and the potential tying run on third base, North Dakota's Campbell recorded three straight outs to preserve the 3-2 lead.
 
UND added to its lead with two unearned two-out runs, aided by two NJIT errors, in the top of the seventh inning. Follis opened with a single, but Liegel, pitching his second inning in relief for the Highlanders, retired the next two batters. However, Liegel throwing over to first base to check on Follis, threw wildly, allowing Follis to move up a base. The next batter, Alt, hit a hard grounder that briefly handcuffed the NJIT second baseman, Rampone.  He stayed with it, but his throw to first base was too late to get Alt and Fallis, running all the way, scored from second on the play. Twenge followed that with a clean single to right field, knocking in Alt, who had stolen second base.
 
The Fighting Sioux tacked on another run against the third NJIT pitcher, Porcello, in the top of the ninth inning. Follis opened with a single and moved up to second on a ground out and to third on a wild pitch. He then scored from third base on Bolander's slow roller to third base. NJIT had the infield drawn in, but with Follis breaking on contact, the only play for the third baseman Peterson was at first base.
 
Campbell got the first two outs of the ninth inning easily, but Bleakley launched his team-leading fifth four-bagger over the right field fence to make it 6-3 before the Fighting Sioux got their first conference win of 2012.
 
Having played four conference games in a span of less than 26 hours, NJIT is scheduled for a non-conference single game next, visiting Fairleigh Dickinson for a 3:30 pm game on Tuesday afternoon in Teaneck, NJ.