ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The NIU baseball team (3-13) dropped the first game of their four game series to Michigan on Thursday by a final of 7-4.
 
"We saw some good things and some not so good things today," Head Coach Mike Kunigonis said. "We need to learn to limit big innings and learn how to play with adversity."
 
Michigan scored all of their runs in the third inning off of starter Nathan Thomas who only last three innings in his third career start. The big shots came in the form of back-to-back home runs by the Wolverines as third baseman Drew Lugbauer hit a grand slam to center field followed by shortstop Michael Brdar hitting a solo shot to left.
 
"They are a good team, a fundamentally sound team and those types of teams capitalize on mistakes," Kunigonis said. "We didn't play very well for two thirds of an inning and that was the difference."
 
The Huskies got up early, scoring two runs in the first inning on an RBI ground out by Jacob Dunham and an RBI single by Jesus Tovar III. NIU also added a run in the sixth on an Alec Barger RBI single and Tommy Hook scored in the eighth, stealing home on a pickoff at first base that turned into a rundown.
 
NIU received solid outings from their two pitchers out of the bullpen as freshman Blake Walker and junior Matthew Hoffman combined to throw five shutout innings. Walker gave up two hits and struck out two in three innings with Hoffman only allowing one baserunner in two innings.
 
"If we can keep getting better at limiting big innings and playing with adversity we will continue to get better," Kunigonis said. "We will bounce back and be ready to get back in the series."
 
The Huskies will return to action on Friday in another afternoon matchup against Michigan. Joe Hawks is scheduled to get the start on the mound for the Huskies against Ryan Nutof of the Wolverines.