Final Stats

Final Stats (PDF) 

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - NIU baseball closed its stay in the Nashville area at Austin Peay Wednesday night, finishing its first midweek games of the season. Climbing with two runs on a solo home run by Stephen Letz (Dyer, Ind./South Suburban College), 3-1, the Huskies (2-14) could not solve the Governors’ (8-6) as they fell, 14-1.

Letz scored NIU’s lone run on a leadoff solo home run in the fifth while both Justin Fletcher (Pekin, Ill./Illinois Central College) and Johnny Zubek (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) went 2-for-4 at the plate.

“We are still trying to learn what it means to come to the ball park and be ready to play every day. We weren’t ready to play tonight and it showed on the scoreboard,” said Head Coach Mike Kunigonis. “I’m disappointed with today because we took a step back.

“We have a good day of practice ahead of us tomorrow to get back to our fundamentals and continue to build our foundation. Our staff will continue to coach hard and prepare our guys to be ready to this weekend,” Kunigonis added.

Pitcher Kevin Jones (Chesterton, Ind./Portage) only allowed one hit and two baserunners in his first two innings of work on the mound. APSU pitcher Caleb Powell did the same on NIU however as the game was scoreless for the first 3.5 innings.

The Governors got on the board first as they scored three runs on Jones in the inning, including two on a home run by Ridge Smith to put Austin Peay on the board, 3-0.

The Huskies responded in the fourth as Fletcher singled to leadoff the inning. The senior advanced to second on a single by Zubek and eventually reached third after tagging up on a pop fly by Brian Sisler (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb). However, NIU would end the inning trailing, 3-0.

After reliever Joe Hawks (Johnston, Iowa/Iowa Central) held Austin Peay scoreless in the fourth, Letz ledoff the fourth with a solo home run to left field - his second in the last three games - to put the Huskies on the board, 3-1.

The Governors responded in the bottom of the fifth with two runs to take a 5-1 lead, tacking on four more runs in the sixth to lead 9-1 as they recorded four hits in the frame. APSU registered 11 unanswered runs after Northern Illinois University’s solo home run, rounding out the night with a five-run eighth.

The Huskies will return to action Friday in a two-game series with Illinois and Southern Illinois in Carbondale. NIU will open the weekend against the Illini at 1 p.m. and follow up against the Salukis at 4 p.m.