Box score (Game 1)

Box score (Game 2)


AMHERST, MA—It wasn't easy by any measure, but NJIT earned a split of its non-conference baseball doubleheader Saturday at the University of Massachusetts. The Highlanders, who managed just two hits in losing the opener, 1-0, salvaged the day by scoring a run in the ninth inning to force extra innings and then another run in the 11th inning for a 7-6 win in the nightcap.
 
UMass, which broke a 10-game losing streak when it took Friday's series opener from the Highlanders, 10-4, is 3-13 with the weekend series complete. NJIT, which snapped its own four-game losing streak when it pulled out Saturday's extra-inning win, is 7-14 on the season.
 
The only scoring in the first game Saturday was a single run by the Minutemen in the bottom of the first inning. The Highlanders, who managed just three hits in Friday's 10-4 loss, dropped off to two hits in the first game Saturday, making a hard-luck loser of their senior ace, Mark Leiter, Jr. who was pitcher of record on the short side, despite pitching a complete-game four-hitter and allowing just the one run in eight innings. Leiter (3-4) struck out seven and walked four.
 
UMass used two pitchers to subdue the Highlanders. The starter, sophomore RHP Andrew Grant (1-3), pitched the first seven innings, plus a batter in the eighth, and allowed the two NJIT hits, while striking out three and walking six. Senior RHP Ron Wallace earned his first save of the season by retiring all six batters he faced, including two strikeouts.
 
The second game was a back-and-forth affair, with UMass scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning and NJIT tying the score with two in the third. The teams each scored a run in the fifth inning, before the Highlanders went up, 5-3, with two runs in the sixth. That score held until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Massachusetts scored three times to take a 6-5 lead. However, NJIT scored a run in the ninth to tie and then the winning run in the 11th.
 
The second-game pitching decisions went to relievers. Getting his first 'W' at the college level was freshman LHP Ian Bentley, who allowed one hit and struck out three in blanking the Minutemen over the last 3.1 innings. He is 1-1 in his freshman season.
 
Wallace, who took the save in Saturday's Game One, took the loss in the second game, allowing one run on four hits, with a walk and two strikeouts in three innings' work. He is 0-1.
 
The NJIT starter, junior RHP Matt Coughlin, pitched six innings and allowed eight hits and three runs (one earned) with five strikeouts and two walks. The first reliever, sophomore RHP Bill VanMeerbeke, pitched 1.2 innings and allowed two hits and three runs, with two strikeouts and two walks.
 
UMass used three pitchers ahead of Wallace. Starter Jordan Pace, a senior left-hander, went the first six innings and allowed five runs (three earned), on seven hits and two walks, with three strikeouts. Sophomore RHP Dan Stoops pitched a scoreless third of an inning and sophomore LHP Conor LeBlanc allowed a hit and a run in 1.2 innings. All four Minuteman pitchers in the second game were undermined by a defense that committed seven errors.
 
The Minutemen managed just four hits and one run in eight innings against NJIT's Leiter and the run and one of the hits came from one player in the first inning. 2B Ryan Cusick led off with a single and then stole second base before advancing to third base on a sacrifice bunt. He soon scored the game's only run on a wild pitch.
 
In addition to Cusick's single, Massachusetts got a one-out double in the fourth inning by RF Adam Picard and two singles from 1B Nik Camparo.
 
NJIT's hits were a leadoff double by CF Ed Charlton in the sixth inning and a two-out single in the seventh inning for DH Jake Stern. With six walks and a hit-by-pitch, NJIT had enough baserunners to leave six on base, despite hitting into two double plays. But the Highlanders could not score. UMass, meanwhile, stranded nine runners in the 1-0 game.
 
The runs and hits were much easier to come by for both teams in the second game, as NJIT had 13 hits, four walks, and three hit-by-pitch, plus help from a UMass defense that was committing seven errors. Even so, the Highlanders left 16 men on base in the 11 innings. Massachusetts had 11 hits and drew four walks, leaving nine on base.
 
Two Highlanders collected three hits apiece in the 11-inning nightcap, as SS Nick Swim went 3-for-6, with two runs batted in, while junior C Scott Brosman, who hadn't appeared in a week, returned to the lineup with a 3-for-5 that included a double.
 
Meanwhile, Tyler Kapp, whose previously 2013 appearances came as a relief pitcher, played the field for the first time since 2011 and went 2-for-5, with a run scored and one driven in as the starting left fielder.
Kapp, who starred as a pitcher and in the field at Toms River South High School, was listed as a pitcher in 2011 when he was a freshman at NJIT. However, he never pitched that year, but was in all 55 game as a position player. He missed all of 2012 due to injury and had pitched exclusively in 2013 before Saturday. Five other Highlanders got one hit each.
 
Rich Graef, the UMass left fielder, went 3-for-6 and scored twice while also driving in a pair of runs in the nightcap. Adam Picard, who had his team's only extra-base hit in Game One, followed up for a strong day by going 2-for-4 with two runs batted in for Game Two.
 
Graef singled to drive in the first UMass run of the second game and Picard drove in the other with a sacrifice fly for the other, giving the home team a 2-0 lead through one inning.
 
NJIT pulled even in the third, as Charlton singled, 3B Matt Weckerle (1-for-2) was hit by a pitch, and 1B Stephan Halibej singled, loading the bases. After a strikeout, Swim reached base on a fielder's choice, bringing in the first Highlander run. Stern then singled with two outs to tie the score at 2-2.
 
The Highlanders took their first lead of the day with an unearned run in the top of the fifth inning of the second game. With one out, 2B Mike Rampone wound up on second base thanks to a two-base error. Swim followed with a run-scoring single to put NJIT on top, 3-2.
 
That began a sequence of short-lived leads involving both sides. UMass immediately answered NJIT's go-ahead run in the fifth, with a score in the UMass half of the inning. Graef reached base on a one-out NJIT error and DH Rob McLam, the next batter, singled. After a fielder's choice registered the second out, Picard singled to drive in Graef, making the score 3-3.
 
The Highlanders went back on top with a two-run top of the sixth inning, helped by three UMass errors. Kapp led off with a single and moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt for RF Andrew Benjamin. Back to the top of the order, Charlton walked and Weckerle singled to drive in a run, with Charlton and Weckerle each moving up a base due to an error in right field on Weckerle's hit. UMass then made two errors on a ball hit by Halibej, who got credit for the run batted in when Charlton scored from third base.
 
NJIT's 5-3 lead stood up until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Massachusetts surged ahead, 6-5, thanks to a three-run frame. Picard opened with a single and, after a strikeout, moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. The next two batters walked to load the bases with two outs and Cusick singled for two runs. That brought Bentley, the eventual winning pitcher, in from the Highlander bullpen to relieve VanMeerbeke with the score tied at 5-5. Bentley's first batter faced, Graef, singled, driving in an inherited runner with the go-ahead run charged to VanMeerbeke.
 
Facing its last inning at bat of the series and with a five-game losing streak looming, NJIT stayed alive with a run in the top of the ninth inning. Swim, leading off, singled, which brought Wallace in from the UMass bullpen. Swim moving up station-to-station, took second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a single for Brosman and scored when Kapp hit into a fielder's choice, driving in the tying run.
 
Having each gotten a blown save, the last relievers, Bentley of NJIT and Wallace of Massachusetts, remained in the game until the end to become the winning and losing pitcher, respectively.
 
Bentley retired UMass in order in the bottom of the ninth and again in the 10th inning. NJIT left two men on base without scoring in the 10th, but broke through for what proved to be the game-winner in the 11th inning. Brosman doubled to left center field to begin the final inning. He moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Kapp and then scored on Benjamin's sacrifice fly.
 
Staked to the 7-6 lead, Bentley put down UMass 1-2-3 to nail down the win, striking out McLam for emphasis on the final out. In all, Bentley retired the last 10 batters he faced.
 
NJIT will return home on Wednesday for a 4 pm game against Fairfield at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. That non-conference tilt comes ahead of a four-game Great West Conference series at home against defending champion Utah Valley. That first GWC series begins on Friday at 6 pm in Newark.