Box score

STATEN ISLAND, NY—NJIT scored four runs in the first four innings and then held on for a 4-3 non-conference baseball victory over Wagner Tuesday night at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.
 
The Highlanders, who got back to within a game of .500 at 18-19 after losing a four-game Great West Conference series last weekend at Utah Valley, built a 4-0 lead with three runs in the third inning and one more in the fourth inning.
 
At the same time, they got a strong start from sophomore right-hander Matt Coughlin, who went the first six innings and allowed two runs on six hits, with three strikeouts and two walks. Coughlin, who made his second start and 12th appearance overall, raised his season won-lost record to 3-1 and left his team-leading earned run average at 2.38.
 
Wagner (19-28) picked up two runs against Coughlin in his final inning, the sixth, and then got a run in the eighth inning against the first NJIT reliever, sophomore RHP Joe Fasano, who gave up a hit in the seventh inning, but stranded two baserunners to keep the score at 4-2 before the Seahawks reached him for the eighth inning run.
 
Junior left-hander Austin McAuliffe came into the game for the Highlanders with the score at 4-3, runners on first and third and one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. McAuliffe escaped that jam with a double play and then stranded two more Wagner runners in a scoreless ninth inning for his first save of the season and fourth of his career.
 
McAuliffe had three saves as a freshman in 2010, but none last year, when 10 of his 13 appearances were in a starting role. This year, he is back in the bullpen, having made all 11 of his appearances in relief.
 
Fasano, the first NJIT reliever, was credited with 1.1 innings against Wagner, allowing one run on two hits, but he was hurt by walks, issuing three in his short stint, with one strikeout. McAuliffe went 1.2 innings and allowed two hits without a walk in his scoreless appearance that saw him strike out two.
 
Wagner used four pitchers and the loss fell to the second Seahawk hurler of the night, junior RHP Dakota Dvorak, who took his seventh loss in eight decisions. Dvorak pitched two innings and allowed four hits and four runs (one earned), with a walk and no strikeouts.
 
The starter, sophomore RHP Nick Pavia, went the first two innings, allowing one hit and walking two, while striking out four. Freshman right-hander Max Schmardel followed Dvorak and pitched four scoreless two-hit innings and freshman RHP Anthony Battaglia finished up with a scoreless ninth inning, put Wagner in a position to mount the comeback that ultimately fell one run short.
 
Victorious NJIT got seven hits, topped by two each from freshman CF Ed Charlton and sophomore 1B Tom Bouck. The Highlanders combined for three runs batted in, with one each from LF Jeff Pizzi, RF DJ Roche, and Charlton. Pizzi and Roche each doubled.
 
Wagner, with 10 hits and five walks, got two hits each from the first, second, and fourth hitters in its batting order. CF Ian Miller, batting leadoff, and 3B Tommy Higgins, batting second, each went 2-for-5, while cleanup batter, 2B Nick Dini, was 2-for-3. Dini's hits were a double and a triple and backup catcher Jason Gordon doubled in his only at-bat.
 
NJJT combined two hits with the only two Wagner errors of the night in a three-run third inning. After an out, Pizzi reached first base on an error and moved up to second base on the second Highlander out of the frame. Pizzi advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored on Roche's double down the right field line. The next batter, Charlton, single to drive home Roche. Then Charlton stole second base and scored on the second Seahawk error of the inning.
 
The Highlanders made it 4-0 with a run in the fourth inning, as 2B Mike Rampone walked with two outs, stole second and then scored on a double to right field by Pizzi.
 
That would be the end of the NJIT scoring for the night, but with Coughlin putting up zeros for the first five innings, the Highlanders took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
Miller opened with a bunt single and went all the way to second on the only Highlander error when the throw to first base went awry. Then he stole third and scored on a ground out to the middle by Higgins. Coughlin picked up the second out on a strikeout, but Dini, a freshman, tripled and later scored on a wild pitch, trimming the NJIT advantage to 4-2.
 
Wagner got a walk and an infield single with two outs in the seventh inning, but Fasano, in his first inning, induced a fielder's choice force out to keep the two-run NJIT lead through seven.
 
Fasano got the first out in the bottom of the eighth inning, but then he ran into trouble, issuing back-to-back walks. Junior RF Nick Alfano then hit a bouncer up the middle, just beyond the reach of Rampone, the fine fielding second baseman of the Highlanders. That hit brought in a run and put runners on first and third.
 
That brought NJIT coach Mike Cole out of the dugout to summon McAuliffe into the game and, with a 3-2 count, Alfano went into motion and was two-thirds of the way to second base when Bill Murphy's soft line drive went to the Highlander first baseman, Bouck, who caught the ball and stepped on the bag to double off Alfano and end the threat.
 
The bottom of the ninth inning had plenty of drama, too. McAuliffe opened with a strikeout and then engaged in an epic battle with Wagner's Jason Gordon, who had entered the game at catcher in the top of the sixth inning and walked in the seventh inning. In his second plate appearance, Gordon fell behind, 0-2, but then alternated three fouls with three balls before knocking a 3-2 pitch into right field for a double on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.
 
McAuliffe then rung up another strikeout before Wagner's Higgins hit a chopper down the third base line. NJIT's Matt Weckerle charged the ball and fielded it cleanly, but his off-balance throw was just wide enough that Bouck had to come off the bag at first and attempt a tag on Higgins as the Seahawk went by. After a conference, the three umpires, declined to rule that the tag had been made.
 
With the potential tying run on third base and the potential winning run on first base, McAuliffe got Wagner shortstop Eddie Brown to hit a humpback line out to Rampone, ending the game.
 
Next up for NJIT is a key four-game Great West Conference series at home this weekend against Texas-Pan American. The series is set to begin Friday at 6 pm with a single game at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
 
With Utah Valley (16-0) having all but wrapped up its third consecutive Great West regular season title, the race now focuses on second place. Texas-Pan American and Houston Baptist are tied at 10-6, while NJIT and Northern Colorado are tied at 9-7.
 
Two weeks ago, Utah Valley and Texas-Pan American were tied with 8-0 records. When Utah Valley swept four games from UTPA, NJIT, which went 3-1 in each of its first three conference series, slipped into second place at 9-3, while Texas-Pan American was 8-4. However, last week proved to be the Highlanders' turn to be swept by UVU, which dropped NJIT to 9-7. This weekend, NJIT and UTPA go head-to-head, while HBU plays Utah Valley four times.