Final Stats

NIU-Murray State Box Scores

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The NIU baseball team (8-7) split its doubleheader Wednesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium as it defeated Murray State (6-11) in game one, 6-4, before falling to the Thoroughbreds in game two, 10-4.

Seth Fuller (Moline, Ill./Black Hawk College) picked up his second win of 2015 with a season-best 5.1 innings and four strikeouts. Brian Sisler (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) and Tony Brandner (Richfield, Wis./Winthrop) each tallied three hits and two RBI in the game. Sisler reached base safely in six of nine plate appearances on the night. Nate Ruzich (Joliet, Ill./South Suburban College) had an RBI and a double in game two.

Making his first career start, freshman Colby Carmichael (Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines East) hurled 3.0 innings and only allowed two hits while striking out three batters.

"It's always tough to sweep a doubleheader and we gave ourselves an opportunity to do that, winning game one. We just couldn't finish the day," said Head Coach Mike Kunigonis. "Seth and Colby both gave us good starts on the mound. Unfortunately we couldn't put a complete game together for Colby. I look for to bouncing back on Friday at Purdue."

NIU will close its spring trip at Purdue for a three-game set with the Boilermakers. The series is scheduled to begin Friday in West Lafayette at 5:30 p.m. Central.

GAME ONE
NIU jumped on the board first, scratching across two runs in the top of the first inning as Justin Fletcher (Pekin, Ill./Illinois Central College) hit a one out single and scored on a double by Sisler, his eighth of the season. Sisler would score three batters later as Brandner hit an RBI single to put NIU on top, 2-0.

The Huskies scored one more in the third on another RBI single by Brandner and another in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead as Joe Jumonville (Munster, Ind./Munster) scored on a wild pitch after leading off the inning with a walk.

The Thoroughbreds would then rally back in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two runs off Fuller in the frame to cut their deficit to two runs, 4-2. NIU and MSU would then trade runs in the sixth inning to make it a 5-3 game.

Murray State brought the game back within one run of the Huskies in the bottom of the seventh, 5-4, after a leadoff double by Clay Kelly and an RBI single by Derek Yoder.

The Huskies scored the final run of the game as Fletcher tripled and scored on a wild pitch to put NIU on top by two, 6-4. Andrew Frankenreider (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) closed the game for the Huskies, fanning two to pick up his third save of the season.

GAME TWO
For the ninth time this season, the Huskies got on the board first, scratching one past home in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Two runs in the third and one more in the fourth put NIU in charge, 4-0.

Murray State tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning as it tacked runs on one-by-one, including two RBI singles and a game-tying sacrifice bunt to make it, 4-4. The Breds took the 5-4 lead in the fifth as Dalton West doubled down the left field line to score Tyler Lawrence from third. The Thoroughbreds added five more runs in the seventh, including four on a grand slam by Kipp Moore, that made it 10-4 game.

MSU rounded off its scoring in the eighth with two more runs to take an eight run lead into the ninth, 12-4. NIU would finish the game with three hits.