Box Score

GREELEY, CO—Northern Colorado scored its second mercy rule win in two days, routing visiting NJIT, 15-5, in a baseball game shortened to seven innings by the Great West Conference 10-run rule on Sunday. The win was the third for the Bears in the four-game weekend conference series.
                     
Northern Colorado (9-3 Great West, 18-16 overall) trailed the series finale 2-1 heading to the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Bears plated five runs in that frame to take a 6-2 lead. NJIT (6-6 Great West, 14-21 overall) came back for three runs in the next half-inning, but UNC scored four times in the bottom the fifth, three more times in the bottom of the sixth, and two in the bottom of the seventh, triggering the 10-run rule that goes into effect when the trailing team has made at least 21 outs and the deficit is at least 10 runs.
 
By taking three of the four 2013 games between the teams, Northern Colorado reversed the won-lost results of 2012, when NJIT took three of four in Newark. The Bears scored a 7-4 win in Friday's series opener before Mark Leiter, Jr. pitched a one-hitter in NJIT's 2-1 win in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. The Highlanders led the nightcap 2-1, but the Northern Colorado attack exploded and the Bears posted a 16-6 run-rule win in seven innings.
 
In both the 7-4 series-opening loss and the 16-6 loss on Saturday, poor defense undermined NJIT.  On Friday, NJIT made four costly errors and four of the seven UNC runs were unearned. After making no errors in Leiter's gem, the Highlanders committed four errors that made nine of Northern Colarado's 16 runs unearned in the Bears' 16-6 win in the nightcap. Still, the Bears pounded out 17 runs in the lopsided victory.
 
On Sunday, the Highlanders made two errors, but the burden of defeat fell mainly on the NJIT pitchers, who allowed 14 earned runs and 18 hits, including three doubles and a home run. The Highlanders also walked five and hit a batter.
 
The winning pitcher was the Northern Colorado starter, junior lefty Nick Miller (4-4), who wasn't particularly effective, allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch in 4.2 innings (NCAA scoring rules allow a starter to get credit for a win with less than five innings pitched in a seven-inning game). Senior right-hander Kevin Willman, who came into the game with 6-5 lead and two out in the top of the fifth, was credited with his sixth save, finishing out the win with 2.1 innings of scoreless two-hit pitching that included two strikeouts without a walk.
 
The pitching loss went to sophomore RHP Bill VanMeerbeke (2-4), who started and went 3.1 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits, a walk and two strikeouts. The next two pitchers, freshman LHP Ian Bentley and junior RHP Frank Shivers, were hit hard, ending substantial personal streaks of near-flawless success.
 
Bentley, who had three wins and two saves in his last five appearances, during which he allowed one run over 14 innings, was beaten up to the tune of seven runs on eight hits and four walks (he had four walks in 24.2 innings before Sunday) in 2.1 innings Sunday. Shivers, who had allowed one run in nine innings coming in, was on the mound when the 10-run rule went into effect, having gotten two outs while allowing two runs on three hits.
 
Miller, an outfielder when he is not pitching, was UNC's designated hitter in addition to starting on the mound Sunday and went 4-for-5, including two doubles with three runs scored. C Andrew Coffman, whose only previous appearance in the series was a hitless at-bat pinch hitting in Saturday's nightcap, went 4-for-5 on Sunday with a double and five runs batted in. CF Jensen Park went 3-for-5, including his first home run, and RF Ben Netzel, who had been 0-for-2 combined in the three preceding series game, went 2-for-3 with four RBI on Sunday. 1B Colby Harrison was 2-for-4 and scored three runs, while driving in one.
 
Five of NJIT's seven hits came from the first three men in the batting order. LF Teddy Bickert, batting leadoff, was 2-for-4; SS Mike Rampone was 2-for-3, including his sixth double of the year, with a run batted in from the two-slot; and, 1B Matt Weckerle, batting third, was 1-for-4, with three runs batted in on his first home run of an injury-plagued season. Bickert and Rampone each scored twice.
 
NJIT held early leads in each of the last three games at Northern Colorado and on Sunday, the Highlanders scored twice in the top of the first inning. Bickert, the first batter in the game, reached on what would be UNC's only error and then moved ahead to second base on a passed ball. Rampone doubled to drive in the first run and he scored the second run later when 2B Jeff Peterson grounded out.
 
VanMeerbeke, who retired six of the first seven batters he faced, ran into his first trouble in the third inning, as Netzel walked leading off, stole second and advanced to third on a one-out sacrifice bunt. SS Ryan Yamane (1-for-4, 2 RBI) then delivered a two-out single to bring home the first UNC run before VanMeerbeke ended the inning with a ground out.
 
The Bears went ahead to stay with a five runs in the fourth inning on five hits. Miller led off with a double and scored immediately on a single by Harrison, tying the game at 2-2. 3B Joe Love reached base on an error and Coffman singled to load the bases with no one out. Netzel followed with a two-run single, giving UNC a lead it would hold the rest of the way. 2B Landon Moseley laid down a bunt single to re-load the bases, still with none out. LF Dylan Banach (1-for-2) hit a sacrifice fly to bring home another run and prompting a call to the NJIT bullpen for Bentley, who had been lights out in five appearances, beginning March 30 at UMass. The first batter, Yasmane hit a sacrifice fly to drive home the fifth run of the inning and Bentley induced another fly out to end the inning.
 
Trailing, 6-2, NJIT fought back with three runs in the top of the fifth on Weckerle's two-out three-run homer to left field that scored Bickert and Rampine, each of whom had singled with two outs. The Weckerle home run brought Willman into the game to get the third out.

NJIT's bid to get back in the game was short-lived, however, as Bentley hit big trouble, allowing four runs in the fifth and three more before exiting with two out in the sixth inning. The four-run fifth inning was highlighted for UNC by a two-run bases-loaded double down the left field line with no one out for Coffman and a two-run single for the next batter, Netzel.
 
The first run of the sixth inning came on a bases-loaded walk to Love and then a two-run single for Coffman out of the seventh slot in the Bears batting order.
 
The game-ending two-run seventh inning for UNC opened with a home run to left field for Park and Miller, now the DH, singled. Freshman Rob Cashel came on as a pinch runner and moved up to second base on the first out of the inning. He went to third on a throwing error and scored on Coffman's single to activate   the 10-run rule.
 
The schedule does not get easier for NJIT, which next visits Texas-Pan American for a four-game series April 26 to 28. UTPA leads the Great West standings with a 10-2 record through the first three conference series. Last year, NJIT, which was 9-6 at home in 2012, lost three of four to UTPA in Newark with the only win coming in the longest game in conference history, 4-3, in 18 innings. All four games in that series were close, the UTPA wins coming by scores of 5-3, 1-0, and 2-1.