Box Score 

NEWARK, NJ—Host NJIT stayed alive in the 2013 Great West Conference baseball tournament with a 9-6 win over New York Institute of Technology Wednesday evening in an elimination game on the second day of the tournament held at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
 
NJIT (20-33) scored four runs in the first inning and six through the first three innings, but was never able to rest comfortably with NYIT (10-47) scoring at least one run in five of the nine innings.
 
The Bears, seeded seventh, and designated as the visiting team, scored two runs in the top of the first inning and then singles runs in the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth. The sixth-seeded Highlanders actually went ahead to stay with four runs in the bottom of the first inning and added single runs in the second and third before generating three in the bottom of the sixth. However, NJIT saw its lead trimmed to one run three different times after the first inning.
 
The winning pitcher for NJIT was left-hander Tripp Davis (5-7), who managed to register his fourth straight win despite a challenging night that saw the normally economical senior use 120 pitches to get through 5.2 innings. Davis allowed 11 hits, five runs and four walks while striking out five. Freshman lefty Ian Bentley got the Highlanders over the finish line with 2.1 innings that included two hits, a walk, an unearned run and three strikeouts.
 
The NYIT starter, senior RHP Steve Cotov took the loss, dropping to 4-5 after allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and three walks, with two strikeouts in five innings. Freshman RHP JP Lipovac, who worked the last three innings, allowed two runs on four hits, with a walk and a strikeout.
 
With each team rapping out 13 hits, there were eight players with multiple-hit games, four on each side.
 
For NJIT, 1B Tom Bouck notched a game-best four hits, including a double, while driving in two runs. SS Mike Rampone, 3B Matt Weckerle, and LF Teddy Bickert all added two hits apiece, with Weckerle hitting a double. Bouck, DH Stephan Halibej, and Bickert shared the Highlander runs batted in lead with two each.
 
The Bears got three hits each from CF Robert Loftus, their leadoff hitter, and 2B Ali Rodriguez, who batted third. LF Alex Angus had two hits, as did C Nick Sebastian, who drove in a game-best three runs. Loftus and Rodriguez each hit doubles and Loftus scored three times. In an unusual statistic, NYIT stranded 14 base runners, but also scored five of its six runs on two-out hits.
 
The Bears got their first two runs in the top of the first inning on a two-out single by Sebastian that drove home Angus, who had singled and RF Dan Lackner, who had walked.
 
Four of the first five NJIT batters reached base, on three singles and a walk, with the first run scoring on Weckerle's bases-loaded single through the right side. Bickert then reached on an error, with two runs coming in on the play, and then RF Tyler Kapp drove in the fourth run on a squeeze bunt single that died just fair halfway down the third base line.
 
That inning put the Highlanders ahead to stay, but it took them until their three-run sixth inning to get their lead above three runs.
 
The teams traded tallied in the second inning, with Rodriguez getting a two-out infield single to drive home the NYIT run in the top half and Halibej singling to bring in Rampone, who had singled and advanced to second base on a wild pitch.
 
The Highlanders made it 6-3 in the bottom of the third, when Weckerle led off with an opposite-field double into left center field and came home on a single by the next batter, Bickert.
 
NYIT worked its way back with single runs in the fourth and the sixth. Loftus hit a one-out double in the fourth and came in on a Rodriguez double down the right field line. With Davis' pitch count climbing into the 100s, 3B Michael Iglesias led off the sixth inning with a bunt single ahead of a single by Loftus. After an out, an infield single for Rodriguez loaded the bases and RF Dan Lackner hit a sacrifice fly to trim the Bears' deficit to 6-5.
 
NJIT gained some much-needed breathing room with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Halibej picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice grounder up the middle and the left-handed hitting Bouck doubled to left field to bring home two more runs.
 
The Bears got their unearned run in the eighth inning against Bentley when Rodriguez reached on an error leading off, moved up a base each time on infield outs and came in on Sebastian's two-out single.
 
The Highlanders are scheduled to open action in the third session of the tournament on Thursday, taking on 2013 regular season champion Northern Colorado, with first pitch scheduled for 11 am. Northern Colorado, which rolled to a run-rule win over Chicago State in its tournament game on Tuesday, lost its winners' bracket game against North Dakota, 11-3, on Wednesday.