Box score
EDINBURG, TX—New York Institute of Technology, seeded third in the inaugural Great West Conference Baseball Tournament, spotted NJIT a three-run first inning and then went on to defeat the Highlanders, 14-4, in eight innings on the second day of pool play Thursday afternoon at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
The Bears, 15-13 in the conference regular season, including 3-1 against NJIT, had lost on Day One, 6-4, in 10 innings against host Texas-Pan American on Wednesday. And they gave up three runs to the Highlanders in the first inning of Thursday’s game.
But NYIT, which still trailed after three innings, 3-2, exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning and never looked back, finishing with the 14-4 win over NJIT in a game abbreviated by a 10-run rule in force to make sure the tournament slate stays as close to schedule as possible.
Thursday’s result lifted NYIT’s overall record to 25-29-2 heading into Day Three. The Bears are 1-1 in the GWC Tournament.
The loss also guaranteed that the Highlanders (13-43 overall, including 9-18 in the GWC regular season) will conclude their 2010 season when they face host Texas-Pan American on Friday at 7:30 pm (CDT). The teams are playing the tournament in two four-team pools and NJIT can do no better than 1-2. Meanwhile, Northern Colorado is 2-0, having beaten the Highlanders on Wednesday and UTPA on Thursday. As a result, it is impossible for NJIT to advance out of pool play.
NJIT’s one regular season win against NYIT came in the second game of a doubleheader on May 1, when the Highlanders prevailed, 10-4 behind the nine-inning complete-game pitching of freshman Mark Leiter Jr..
Leiter, who finished a promising freshman year on Thursday, shut out NYIT for the first two innings and allowed two runs (one earned) in the third inning, but couldn’t get out of the Bears’ big seven-run fourth inning.
Plagued by control problems that showed in seven total walks in his 3.1 innings, Leiter was burned by bases-on-balls in the big fourth inning. He walked the first two Bears; the third batter reached on a failed defensive attempt at a force play on a sacrifice bunt; then an error; another walk, this one with the bases loaded; and then a three-run double by Effrey Valdez. After a single, NYIT scored three more runs on back-to-back doubles—the first off of Leiter (his final batter) and the second off of reliever Austin McAuliffe, who followed by retiring the next two batters to end the inning.
Leiter (3-8) allowed six hits and nine runs (seven earned). He finishes his freshman season sharing the team lead for wins with classmate Tripp Davis (3-7). Leiter led the Highlanders outright in complete games (4), innings pitched (81.1), and strikeouts (60).
The Bears added three unearned runs against McAuliffe in the seventh inning, as NJIT committed two of its five errors in the game. And they got more runs, propelled by three doubles, in the eighth inning to take a 14-3 lead.
The winning pitcher was NYIT starter Preston Wasmund (6-3), who allowed four hits and two earned runs (four total) in seven innings. Louie Bernardi tidied up with one inning’s work that included no hits and two strikeouts.
NJIT, which scored three runs on three hits in the first inning, managed just one hit and one run in the remaining seven innings. The fourth run, in the eighth inning, was helped by the fourth hit, a single by Teddy Bickert after Matt Petrone had reached on NYIT’s fourth error as the leadoff hitter.
After a walk loaded the bases, Matt Tomczyk picked up his second RBI with a productive out. His two RBI on Thursday raised his season total to 29, which is a tie for the NJIT team lead with Bleakley.
With 14 hits total, NYIT got three hits each from Valdez and Christian Dienna, each of whom stroked a pair of their team’s seven total doubles. Valdez drove in three runs, while Dienna drove in two runs, as did Brian Smith, who also drew four of the 12 walks issued by the three Highlander pitchers.
Bickert led NJIT with three hits, while Petrone and Bryan Bleakley each had hits for NJIT’s total of five.
The Highlanders’ three-run first inning included three of their hits and two NYIT errors. The first three NJIT batters—Petrone, Bickert, and Bleakley—opened the frame with consecutive singles, with Petrone and Bickert scoring on Bleakley’s single plus an outfield error on the play. The third run scored on Tomczyk’s sacrifice fly. There was another error after the three runs had scored, but with no more hits to be had until the eighth inning, the Highlanders could not add on.
NJIT’s final game, against host Texas-Pan American, is scheduled for 7:30 pm (CDT), but the time is tentative pending the length of the other tournament games that will precede it.
The Highlanders and UTPA played three of their scheduled four games in the regular season on April 23 and 24 (the fourth game was rained out). The Broncs won the first meeting, 8-7, and then the teams split a doubleheader the next day, as UTPA won game one, 10-0, and the Highlanders rallied for a 10-9 win in the nightcap.