Final Stats

NIU 3, Ohio 1 

ATHENS, Ohio - Battling offensively against stingy pitching, the NIU baseball team (6-17, 2-1 MAC) broke through with a run in the sixth and added two more in the eighth to win its Mid-American Conference opening series over Ohio (10-13, 1-2 MAC) on Easter Sunday, 3-1. The Huskies have won their last two MAC opening series and are 4-2 in their last six games on Easter Sunday.

Starting pitcher Donovin Sims (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) hurled a career-high 7.1 innings, striking out five and scattering four hits to pick up his second win of the season. Sims owns a 2-0 record with a 1.91 ERA and a walks and hits per inning average of 0.85 as a starter this season. Ryne Blanton (Spring Grove, Ill./Madison College) picked up his third save of the season and his second of the series.

At the plate, Stephen Letz (Dyer, Ind./South Suburban College) and Johnny Zubek (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) each collected two hits with Letz driving in a run while Brian Sisler (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) scored the winning run on a passed ball in the eighth.

“This was a great team weekend. We pitched, we had clutch hitting, we played solid defense and we did it all against a really good Ohio team then won the conference tournament last year,” said Head Coach Mike Kunigonis. “Donovin gave us a great start for the second week in a row and we battled all game offensively and got it done.

The game was scoreless in the first five innings of play with each side’s starting pitchers, Sims and Connor Sitz, giving few opportunities to score. Sims got out of a jam in the fourth with runners on second and third and one out, forcing a line out to left field and a fly ball to Sisler at shortstop.

With two outs and nobody on base in the sixth, Letz singled to right centerfield where he scored from first on Gasser’s double to the left centerfield gap to break the scoreless game, 1-0.

Gasser entered the game in the second inning, taking over in left field as Brandon Mallder (Bridgeview, Ill./St. Laurence) moved to first.

Two innings later, Sisler and Mallder led off the eighth with back-to-back singles that pushed Sisler to third, allowing the senior to score on a passed ball and double the lead, 2-0. Letz drove in his third run of the series on a single up the middle to put NIU in front, 3-0.

Blanton, who improved to 3-for-3 in save opportunities in 2016, entered the game with a runner on first and one down. After forcing a line out a John Adryan single put runners at first and second. A double in the next at-bat by Cody Gaertner put the Bobcats on the board but Blanton stood firm as he struck out the final batter to usher in the ninth, 3-1.

Ohio attempted one last rally in the ninth but Blanton and the NIU defense held strong with the tying run at the plate and two outs as the Huskies clinched their first series of the season.

Coach Kunigonis offered some final thoughts about the team after the conclusion of the series.

“I’ve been saying it for weeks now, things are starting to come together and this group is starting to believe. I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter from Huskieball.”

The Huskies will return to action Wednesday, March 30 when they take on Iowa. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. in Iowa City.