Box Score
 
NEWARK, NJ—Regular season baseball champion Northern Colorado edged NJIT, 4-2 on Thursday, eliminating the host Highlanders from the double-elimination 2013 Great West Conference Tournament at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
 
Northern Colorado, which won its first tournament game on Tuesday over Chicago State, but lost its winners' bracket game against North Dakota on Wednesday, continues its season with a 31-23 record after topping NJIT.
 
NJIT, which lost its tournament opener to Houston Baptist, but stayed alive with a win the next day over New York Institute of Technology, completes its season with a 20-34 record.
 
All of the scoring in the 11 am game took place in the first two-and-a-half innings. Northern Colorado scored a run in the top of the first inning, but NJIT came back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame. The Bears surged back ahead in the top of the second and took the lead for good with two runs of their own before adding another run in the third.
 
After that, what had appeared to be a brewing slugfest, was seized by the pitchers, who did not allow a run to either side the rest of the way.
 
For UNC, starter Jake Johnson, a senior right-hander, gave up two hits and two runs in the opening frame, but blanked NJIT on just two more hits on the way to a final line of 8 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts, upping his record to 7-3. Senior RHP Kevin Willman closed out his 11th save of the year, walking one and striking out one in a hitless ninth inning.
 
NJIT used three pitchers, with the loss going to the starter, junior RHP Matt Coughlin (4-6), who went 1.1 innings, allowing five hits and three runs, with two walks and two strikeouts. Freshman LHP Ian Bentley, who came into a base-loaded one out spot in the second inning, allowed one inherited runner to score and then gave up a run of his own in the top of the third inning before giving way to RHP Joe Fasano. The junior Fasano got the final out of the third inning on one pitch and then delivered the best performance of his career, tossing 6.1 innings of scoreless relief to finish the game, allowing three hits and two walks, while striking out two.
 
Northern Colorado, with 10 hits, all singles, got hits from every player in its batting order, paced by the number eight hitter, Corey Fujimoto, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Other runs batted in went to 2013 GWC Player of the Year CF Jensen Park (1-for-5), LF Nick Miller (1-for-4), and 1B Colby Harrison (1-for-3), who got his run batted in on a sacrifice fly.
 
NJIT, which had four hits, got the game's only extra-base hit on a double by SS Mike Rampone, the second Highlanders batter of the day. The other hits came from CF Ed Charlton (1-for-4), who scored NJIT's first run after leading off the first with a single and from 1B Tom Bouck, who finished 2-for-2 and drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly.
 
Northern Colorado scratched out its run in the top of the first on Harrison's two-out bloop single to center field. SS Ryan Yamane had walked leading off and moved up a base on a ground out before coming in on Harrison's hit.
 
NJIT responded immediately with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Charlton led off with a sharp single up the middle and Rampone followed with a double into the left field corner, putting runners on second and third for all-conference DH Stephan Halibej, who grounded out to the middle of the infield, bringing in Charlton with the tying run and pushing Rampone to third base.
 
That brought up Bouck, NJIT's hottest hitter over the last week-plus, who drove the ball to the warning track in right field for a sacrifice fly that brought in Rampone with the go-ahead run.
 
Northern Colorado jumped back ahead in the top of the second inning. RF Ben Netzel drew a leadoff walk and, after an out, 2B Landon Moseley singled and Yamane loaded the bases on a bunt single. Park brought home the tying run with a dunker into right center field, chasing NJIT's Coughlin, who had already thrown 47 pitches. Bentley, in with the bases loaded and one out, got Miller to fly out to center, but the ball was deep enough for a sacrifice fly, plating the go-ahead run before Harrison fouled out to end the ending.
 
The Bears stretched their advantage to 4-2 with a run in the top of the third inning. DH Andrew Coffman walked leading off, went to second on a bunt single by Netzel and scored on a two-out single to left field by Fujimoto. That brought Fasano in from the Highlander bullpen and he used one pitch to get the final out, completing the day's scoring for both teams.
 
Northern Colorado is scheduled to face the winner of Thursday's second elimination game between Texas-Pan American and Chicago State, which reached the fourth inning before a downpour hit with UTPA leading, 2-0. The Friday game between UNC and the UTPA-Chicago State winner is scheduled for 2:30 pm.