PHOENIX, Ariz. – The NIU baseball team fell in both ends of their double header against South Dakota State and Chicago State Friday at Camelback Ranch.
 
"Tough day one but it was good to get on the field and lace them up again," said Head Coach Mike Kunigonis. "We have a ton to work on and get better at but there isn't any secret to success in this game."
 
The highlight of the day went to Joe Hawks who ended up starting game two for NIU against Chicago State. In six innings, Hawks gave up one unearned run on two hits, four walks and punched out three.
 
The Huskies jumped out on top in the first innings on a double by Jesus Tovar scoring Brad Wood after Wood and Roderick Bynum each singled with two outs.  The Cougars would get their only run off of Hawks in the fourth as they tied the score at one.
 
The Chicago State pitching held the NIU offense in check the rest of the way as Jake Perkins and Joe Baier threw eight straight innings of shutout baseball to close the game out. The Cougars took the lead in the seventh off of Danny Hyde and Ryne Blanton then scored six more to bust the game open in the eighth inning.
 
"If you pitch and play defense you will have a chance to win," Kunigonis said. "We didn't do either today and couple that with a poor approach at the plate and you get what we had today."
 
Game one was a 7-2 loss to South Dakota State as William Anderson took the mound for the Huskies to open the season. Anderson went only three innings giving up three runs, one each innings on six hits and four walks.
 
NIU scored two runs in the fourth to cut the lead in half to 4-2 on [NIU RBIs]. The Jackrabbits scored three runs in the sixth off of George Faue to increase their lead to 7-2 and they would hold on to that lead as Bryce Hanson, Zach Finley and Chris Halbur closed it out for SDSU.
 
Friday saw the NIU debuts of six newcomers in Faue, Tover, Bynum, Michael Roberson, Samuel Vega and Alec Barger. All new position players recorded a hit and Faue threw six innings in relief, giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts.
 
"Day one is in the books, we will bounce back tomorrow and be ready to play," Kunigonis said. "I appreciate the great support today from the alumni and friends who showed up to cheer us on."
 
The Huskies will return to action tomorrow as they will face South Dakota State at 2:00 p.m. mountain time, 3:00 p.m. central.