Box Score



GLEN BURNIE, MD—Senior DJ Roche and sophomore Ian Bentley combined for nine strong innings, holding Coppin State to two runs with strong pitching performances in an 8-2 victory that gave NJIT its second baseball win of the season Saturday at Bachman Sports Complex.
 
NJIT's Roche, a hard-throwing redshirt senior right-hander, notched his first win since April  6, 2012, when he was the victor in an 8-2 seven-inning complete- game win against Northern Colorado. He made three more pitching starts after that but did not get a win and last batted on May 1 that year before undergoing Tommy John surgery, which resulted in him missing the entire 2013 season.
 
Roche made a previous 2014 start, but not get a decision vs. Central Arkansas in NJIT's season opener last Saturday in a tournament hosted by Abilene Christian in Texas.  
 
He allowed no runs and one hit through five innings Saturday, but two hits and two walks in the sixth put Coppin State on the board. Roche would exit with one out in the home half of the sixth with a final line of 5.1 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs (one earned), 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts.
 
Bentley, a sophomore LHP, excelled in a repeat of his typical role from 2013, when, as a freshman he was named named to the New Jersey College Baseball Association Division I all-state team.
 
Bentley, who made his first appearance of 2014 season as a starter against Abilene Christian on February 22, was a reliever in 18 games, making one start in 2013. Returning to the relief role on Saturday, he pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in relief to secure the win for the Highlanders and record his first save of the season and sixth of his career. Bentley's final line was: 3.2 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts.
 
With Saturday's win, NJIT is 2-3 for the season, while Coppin State is still seeking its first win through five games. Coppin previously lost all four games in a tournament at Winthrop in Rock Hill, SC, dropping two to the hosts and two to Kent State.
 
The loss went to sophomore Will Grebenstein of the Eagles, who is 0-2 this season after posting a 3-0 record as a freshman. Grebenstein took the loss in 5.1 innings, with 6 hits, 7 runs (4 earned), 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Freshman Dillon O'Brien finished up, tossing 3.2 innings and allowing 2 hits and a run on a walk and a strikeout.
 
NJIT scored a run in the top half of the opening and added a pair in the third, before picking up another run in the fourth, three in the sixth and one in the ninth. Coppin scored its only runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, trimming its deficit to 7-2.
 
Three Highlanders—RF Matt Weckerle, C Scott Brosman, and CF Jesse Uttendorfer—all collected two hits apiece and they each scored two runs. Weckerle and Uttendorfer each drove in a pair of runs, with Weckerle and DH Stephan Halibej (1-for-4, RBI) getting a double apiece.
 
CSU, with six hits total, got two from junior SS David Hamlett, while a double for junior C William Brown was Coppin's only extra-base hit. Hamlett was the top hitter for the Eagles in 2013, batting .313 and driving in 38 runs.
 
NJIT got its first run in the opening, when Weckerle hit a one-out double and ended at third base thanks to an error in the outfield. SS Mike Rampone then delivered a sacrifice fly to put the Highlanders on top.
 
A hit-by-pitch, an infield single and a walk loaded the bases with no one out in the top of the third, setting up a two-run single for Weckerle, who is 5-for-13, including a double and a triple to open the season.
 
3B Nick Swim led off the fourth for NJIT with an infield single and later scored, as the Highlanders built a 4-0 advantage.
 
The Highlanders stretch the lead to 7-0 in the sixth inning, as Brosman and Uttendorfer delivered run-scoring singles and LF Teddy Bickert plated the third run of the frame with a sacrifice fly.
 
Coppin scored its runs in the bottom half, with the first crossing the plate on a bases-loaded walk and the second coming in, unearned, on a bases-loaded error by NJIT.
 
Weckerle led off the ninth inning being hit by a pitch, stole second base and then came in on a one-out RBI double for Halibej.
 
With rain showers in the afternoon forecast for Glen Burnie, MD, on Sunday, followed by a wintry mix, the teams will aim to get in a doubleheader, with first pitch slated for 11 am.