Final Stats

NIU 9, UB 2 

DeKALB - Thanks to consistent hitting and steady pitching, NIU (13-25, 8-6 MAC) evened the series with Buffalo (12-22, 5-9 MAC) on Saturday afternoon as the Huskies downed the Bulls, 9-2. Stephen Letz (Dyer, Ind./South Suburban College) hit a grand slam in the game for his sixth home run of the season as Ryan Olson (Sterling, Ill./Newman Central Catholic) earned his second-straight win with 8.0 innings of work.

Olson and reliever Matthew Hoffmann (East Dubuque, Ill./Wahlert Catholic) combined for zero walks in the game. It was Northern Illinois University's second game this season where the pitching staff combined for no walks in a game, last doing so in the Huskies triumph over Illinois on March 19. Olson fanned six batters and scattered eight hits in the game, tossing 102 pitches as 71 crossed the plate for strikes.

Johnny Zubek (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) led all hitters with three hits and two RBI while Brad Wood (Orland Park, Ill./St. Laurence) went 2-for-4 at the plate with two hits and two runs. Letz led NIU with four RBI as his grand slam was the program's first since Zubek's on April 14, 2015 in an 11-2 win over UIC.

“Great bounce back win today. Letz gave us an early lead and Olson did a great job of keeping it that way,” said Head Coach Mike Kunigonis. “We played very well all around today. We need to keep it rolling and win the weekend tomorrow.”

NIU collected its first hits in the third inning as Zubek dropped a ball between the second baseman and right fielder, hustling to second for a one-out double. After a pair of walks by Tommy Hook (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) and Brian Sisler (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) with two outs, Letz drove a 1-1 pitch to straight away left field, lining the ball into the cascading pines at Ralph McKinzie Field to give NIU a 4-0 lead.

In the fourth, the Huskies extended their lead to five as Tony Brandner (Colgate, Wis./Winthrop) doubled down the right-field line and scored on another Zubek hit.

Olson worked his way out of a jam in the sixth, giving up four hits and two runs in the frame, but battened down the hatches with two runners in scoring position and two down as he fanned the final batter of the inning to end the threat, 5-2.

After Olson registered his fourth 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, the NIU bats rallied again as they produced four more runs to increase its lead, 9-2.

The Huskies totaled five hits in the frame, started by a leadoff double by Sisler. Brandon Mallder (Bridgeview, Ill./St. Laurence), Brandner and Hook all recorded RBI singles in the stanza while substitute Luke Yapp (Verona, Wis./Madison College) drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in his only plate appearance of the game.

Hoffmann faced three batters in the ninth, forcing three consecutive pop flies to right field to seal the Huskies 9-2 win. Buffalo’s Bobby Sheppard went 3-for-4 at the plate with a run from the leadoff spot.

NIU and UB will close the series with the Bulls tomorrow at noon Central.