Box score

CHICAGO—In a game with multiple twists and turns it was NJIT standing at the end of a 9-8 win over Chicago State thanks to a two-run eighth inning and solid work by the Highlander bullpen over the last three-and-two-thirds innings Friday in the opener of a four-game weekend Great West Conference baseball series between the teams.
 
The win lifts NJIT to 11-10 in the Great West Conference and 20-22 overall, with the 20 overall wins matching the most in a season for the Highlanders since they began Division I competition in 2007. NJIT, 20-35 in 2011, has eight more 2012 regular season games, plus the GWC postseason tournament left in its bid to set a new program DI standard.
 
Chicago State, having its best season since Great West baseball play began in 2010, falls to 6-15 in conference play and 9-24 overall.
 
NJIT broke out on top with two runs in the top of the opening inning, but Chicago State tied the score in the bottom of the third with two two-out runs. The Highlanders pulled back ahead in the next half-inning with two runs in the top of the fourth, but the Cougars grabbed their first lead of the day, 5-4, with a three-run bottom of the fourth.
 
The Highlanders tied with a run in the top of the fifth, but CSU took back a 6-5 lead on a run in the bottom of the sixth.
 
The teams traded two-run surges in the seventh inning, with NJIT grabbing a 7-6 advantage, only to fall back in the bottom half, 8-7.
 
Finally, the Highlanders went on top to stay with a pair of runs in the eighth. They used their second double play of the day to blank Chicago State in the bottom of the frame, followed by a one-hit scoreless bottom of the ninth to secure the win.
 
Trailing 8-7, NJIT got singles, the last two on bunts, to load the bases with no one out in the eighth inning. After a force out fielder's choice at home for out number one, Matt Weckerle, who had bunted for hit, scored the tying run on wild pitch. The next batter, junior SS Jeff Peterson, then delivered what would prove to be the winning run on a one-out, bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center field, as Ed Charlton came home from third base.
 
The winning pitcher on Friday at Brooks Field on Chicago's South Side was NJIT's first reliever, sophomore right-hander Joe Fasano (3-1), who pitched 2.2 innings and allowed two runs on three hits, while striking out one and walking none. Fasano also won in relief last weekend when NJIT took its only victory in its four-game conference series vs. Texas-Pan American.
 
Junior LHP Austin McAuliffe relieved Fasano and picked up the save for the Highlanders with a scoreless one-hit ninth inning. McAuliffe, with two saves on the year, has allowed just one run in his last eight appearances, covering 10.2 innings, all in relief.
 
The NJIT starter, junior RHP Mark Leiter, Jr. got one out in the sixth inning before handing the ball to Fasano and was charged with six runs on 10 hits, with four walks and eight strikeouts.
 
Senior right-hander Andrew Watson, the third Chicago State pitcher, took his seventh loss in eight decisions, pitching the last two innings on Friday and allowing three hits, a walk and two runs. He struck out one.
 
The CSU starter, freshman RHP Andrew Wellwerts, went the first 3.2 innings and allowed six hits and four runs, walking two without a strikeout. Senior right-hander AJ Reyes, who was in line for the win until NJIT's two-run eighth inning against Watson, went 3.1 innings in relief of Wellwerts, allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits, with three strikeouts and no walks.
 
NJIT had 11 hits, drew three walks and was hit by pitch a remarkable five times. The first five men in the Highlanders batting order—Jeff Pizzi, Mike Rampone, Weckerle, Charlton, and Bryan Bleakley—all collected two hits apiece.
 
The sixth through ninth spots in the order were a collective 1-for-13. However, that one hit was a crucial two-run home run in the seventh inning for sophomore designated hitter Scott Brosman.
 
The homer was the first of the year and second of his career for Brosman, who is expected to play a bigger role for NJIT down the stretch of his sophomore year. He has 30 career at-bats, but 13 have come since April 28, as the Highlanders play without injured regular starters James D'Aloia and DJ Roche.
 
Brosman, Rampone, and Charlton all knocked in two runs apiece. Brosman's home run was the only extra-base hit for the victorious Highlanders.
 
Chicago State, a formidable hitting team, banged out 14 hits, including four doubles and a home run. The top two men in the Cougar lineup, CF Albert Carpen and 3B Mattingly Romanin, each got three hits. Romanin, a freshman from Canada, got two doubles and drove in three runs. Carpen, one of two brothers on the team, had a double and scored two runs while driving in one.
 
Senior catcher Jack Bobillo also drove in three runs, two of which came on his two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, which gave CSU an 8-7 lead. He also scored a pair of runs, as did junior LF Eric O'Brien (2-for-4). Senior RF William Hill finished 2-for-4, including a double.
 
NJIT opened the game with a single by Pizzi, a hit-by-pitch for Rampone, and a reached-on-error for Weckerle, loading the bases for Charlton, who delivered a two-run single.
 
Leiter, who set the NJIT Division I record when he struck out 14 last year at home against Chicago State, dominated the Cougars early on Friday, getting his first seven outs on strikeouts and retiring eight of the first nine (the exception being a two-out walk in the second inning).
 
However, Albert Carpen dropped down a bunt single for CSU's first hit with two outs in the third and then he stole second and went to third on a wild pitch ahead of Romanin's first double of the day. Romanin then scored on an RBI single for Jonathan Carpen, Albert's brother and the Cougar shortstop.
 
NJIT added two more runs on a two-run single for Rampone in the fourth inning, but Chicago State answered with three two-out runs in the bottom half of the frame. Bobillo singled to plate the first run; Albert Carpen drove in a run with another bunt single; and Romanin walked with the bases loaded to force home the third run.
 
The Highlanders picked up a two-out run, this one unearned, in the top of the fifth, as Bryan Bleakley, who had singled leading off, scored on a two-out error.
 
Leiter worked around two hits in the bottom of the fifth to keep the score at 5-5, but he got into trouble in the bottom of the sixth, as Albert Carpen and Romanin hit back-to-back doubles, putting the Cougars back on top, 6-5. After Leiter walked Jonathan Carpen, Fasano came in and got a double play on a line drive to end the threat.
 
NJIT pulled ahead 7-6 in the top of the seventh on Brosman's one-out homer to left field, but Bobillo's two-out two-run shot to right center field off of Fasano in the bottom half swung the pendulum back to Chicago State, 8-7.
 
After the Highlanders reclaimed a one-run lead in the top of the eighth, Fasano struck out Albert Carpen to open the bottom, allowed an infield single to Romanin and then ended the inning on a well-executed 5-4-3 double play.
 
In the final half-inning, McAuliffe allowed a leadoff single to Jeremy Rataczyk, but then got a force out, a fly out and a strikeout to nail down the win for NJIT.
 
The teams are scheduled to play a Great West doubleheader (7-inning first game; 9-inning second game) on Saturday, with first pitch slated for noon (CDT).