Box score (Game 1)

Box score (Game 2)

EDINBURG, TX—Great West Conference-leading Texas-Pan American took both ends of a Saturday doubleheader from visiting NJIT, topping the Highlanders 8-7 in the scheduled seven-inning late afternoon game and then taking the second game at night, 6-2, with two runs in the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie and two more for insurance in the eighth inning Saturday at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
 
The Broncs, 13-2 in the Great West Conference and 22-18 overall, have won six of their last seven after taking the first three games of the scheduled four-game Great West weekend series from NJIT. The Highlanders, 1-6 since they swept a four-game conference set from NYIT March 13 and 14, are 14-24 overall and 6-9 in the Great West.
 
Game One
In the first game, scheduled for seven innings, NJIT held a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, when Texas-Pan American struck for five runs to take a 6-3 lead through five. NJIT got a run back in the top of the sixth, but the Broncs added two in the bottom half, stretching their lead to 8-4 going into the final inning. The Highlanders fought back in the last frame, scoring three runs and loading the bases with one out before UTPA's senior RHP Guadalupe Barrera, his team's second pitcher of the inning and fifth of the seven-inning game, induced a game-ending double play to preserve an 8-7 win for the Broncs.
 
The win went to Texas-Pan Am's first reliever, junior RHP Matt Daniels (1-4), who allowed one run in two innings, but was pitcher of record when his team took the lead for good in its five-run fifth inning. Starter Luis Flores, a senior right-hander,  pitched the first three innings and allowed six hits and three runs. The third Bronc hurler, senior RHP Preston Budzuszewski, pitched a scoreless sixth inning after NJIT CF Ed Charlton led off with a home run against Daniels.
 
Sophomore RHP Aaron Moore began the seventh inning on the mound for UTPA, but did not record an out while being charged with all three runs in NJIT's late rally. Barrera, who have up two hits and allowed two inherited runners to score, got a fly out and then the bases-loaded double play to escape with the save.
 
The loss went to NJIT starter Mark Leiter, Jr. who held the home team to one run through the first four inning, but finished the game with a stat line of 5.1 innings, 9 hits, 8 runs (7 earned), 3 strikeouts, and 4 walks.
 
Saturday was the first start for Leiter (4-6) since last week's seven-inning, one-hit win at Northern Colorado, which earned him Pitcher of the Week honors in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (first NJIT player so honored since the Highlanders began Division I baseball competition in 2007), the Great West Conference, and the New Jersey College Baseball Association (eight schools in Division I). Junior RHP Frank Shivers wrapped up for Leiter, walking one and getting the other two batters out.
 
NJIT had more hits than the home team. 11-9, but the Highlanders also committed four errors, which made one of the runs charged to Leiter unearned. UTPA was errorless in seven innings.
 
The Broncs finished with nine hits—eight singles and a double for 2B Riley Goulding (1-for-3)—but also drew five walks and five bases. 1B Will Klausing and SS Shane Klemcke, batting in the nine-hole, each went 3-for-3 to pace the Broncs. Klausing, CF Shane Ammon (0-for-2), and 3B Alberto Morales (1-for-3) all shared their team's RBI lead with two apiece, and Klemcke scored a game-best three runs.
 
NJIT got most of its production from the first five spots in the batting order, with the final four spots combining to go just 2-for-12. By contrast, the first five spots were a combined 10-for-19, with two home runs, seven runs batted in, and six scored.
 
Charlton, the sophomore center fielder, batting cleanup, was 3-for-4, with two runs scored and two batted in after hitting his third home run of the year. Freshman DH Stephan Halibej, who hit his second college homer, was 1-for-4 with three runs batted in, and 3B Matt Weckerle (1-for-4) drove in three runs, meaning NJIT's seven runs were all driven in by the three-through-four batters in the order. Senior LF Teddy Bickert, batting leadoff, was 2-for-4 and scored two runs. One of his hits was a double.
 
The Highlanders got a run in the opening frame on a run-scoring single for Charlton and they went up 3-0 in the top of the third on Halibej's two-out, two-run home run to left field. UTPA got a run back in the third when Ammon's sacrifice fly brought in Klemcke, whose infield single opened the inning.
 
NJIT's 3-1 lead lasted another frame before it disappeared in a five-run bottom of the fifth for the Broncs. Klemcke got it started again with a leadoff single and eventually scored on a ground out RBI for Ammon. Later in the inning, Klausing hit a two-run double and Morales drove in two more with a two-out single.
 
Charlton homered to open the sixth inning, but that was all NJIT could muster in the inning to trail 6-4 going to the bottom of the sixth, when UTPA got an a run-scoring single from Goulding and a steal of home by Goulding to take an 8-4 lead into the final inning.
 
NJIT loaded the bases with no one out in the seventh, thanks to a walk to RF Andrew Benjamin, a double for Bickert, and a walk to SS Mike Rampone. That brought Barrera in from the bullpen and Weckerle met him with a two-run single. Charlton, 3-for-3 to that point, flied out, but Halibej singled to bring the Highlanders within a run with one out. 1B Tom Bouck was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Barrera got the less-than-pristine save by getting a game-ending bases-loaded 6-4-3 double play.
 
Game Two
The Highlanders trailed the second game 1-0 due to a run for Texas-Pan Am in the bottom of the first inning. However, the Highlanders tied the score with a run in the top of the fourth and then claimed a brief 2-1 lead on a score in the top of the sixth.
 
However, NJIT's starter, junior RHP Matt Coughlin, had a mounting pitch count and departed with two outs and the tying run in for UTPA in the bottom of the sixth. Freshman LHP Ian Bentley (3-2) got the last out of the sixth inning to preserve the 2-2 tie, but he gave up two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to absorb the defeat.
 
Coughlin, who threw 118 pitches, lasted 5.2 innings and allowed seven hits and two runs, with five walks and four strikeouts. Bentley pitched 2.1 innings and allowed four runs on six hits, with a walk and two strikeouts.
 
The win went to reliever Bryan Maxwell (1-1), a senior RHP and UTPA's second pitcher of the game, who blanked NJIT on one hit over 1.2 innings. Starter Dylan Badura, a senior left-hander, pitched 5.1 innings and allowed six hits and two runs, striking out a pair and walking one. Junior RHP Matthew Harrell pitched one scoreless inning and Moore, who didn't get an out while allowing three runs in the opening game, closed out the sweep with a scoreless, one-hit ninth inning.
 
The Broncs got 13 hits in the nightcap, paced by Ammon's 3-for-4, with two hits each from Goulding, LF Alex Howe, and Morales, whose 2-for-4 included his fourth home run of the season. In addition to the Morales homer, UTPA got a double each from Goulding and DH Dillon Engelhart (1-for-4). Howe had three runs batted in, followed by one each for Engelhart and Morales.
 
NJIT, with nine singles in the game, got two each from Bickert, Charlton, Bouck, and Scott Brosman, who started the second game at catcher after not playing in the opener. Brosman had NJIT's only RBI in the game.
 
Texas-Pan Am's first-inning run came on a no-out bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Howe after the home team had loaded the bases on a walk and back-to-back singles. NJIT's Coughlin wiggled out of trouble and would keep UTPA off the board until the bottom of the sixth.
 
The Highlanders drew even in the top of the fourth, when Charlton singled leading off, and later scored on a balk by UTPA's Badura.
 
The 1-1 tie held until the top of the sixth, when NJIT pulled ahead with a single run. Halibej walked with one out and advanced to third base on a single for Bouck that knocked Badura out of the game. Brosman greeted the reliever, Maxwell, with an RBI single that gave the Highlanders a 2-1 lead. However, the next two Highlanders made outs, leaving two men on base and the slim NJIT lead at 2-1.
 
Morales led off the bottom half of the frame with a home run to re-tie the score at 2-2 and the Broncs surged ahead for good with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Goulding led off with a double and Ammon followed with a bunt single. After an out, Engelhart broke the tie with a double down the left field line and the Broncs added insurance on a balk run with two out.
 
Down 4-2, to open the eighth, the Highlanders got two base runners on a leadoff single for Charlton and a walk to Bouck, but couldn't score. UTPA added two insurance runs in the bottom of the frame on Howe's two-run single and Moore worked around a one-out Bickert single to close out the sweep.
 
The teams will complete the four-game weekend series with a single nine-inning game on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for a noon (CDT) start.