NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The NIU baseball team (4-16) lost their midweek matchup to Notre Dame 12-1 on Tuesday. Five Huskie pitchers combined to walk 12 Irish hitters on the day, which helped account for two five-run innings for Notre Dame.
 
"We need to put this game behind us and have a good day of practice tomorrow," Head Coach Mike Kunigonis said.
 
NIU scored the first run of the game in the third inning as senior Carl Russell led off the inning with a double to left followed by a ground out by Roderick Bynum and a sacrifice fly by Samuel Vega. Russell got the start in right field, going 2-3 with the Huskies' only run scored and three putouts in right, included a nice diving catch in right center.
 
Freshman Blake Walker got the start on the mound for the Huskies, going into the third inning giving up four runs, three earned on two hits and five walks, three in Notre Dame's five-run third inning. Fellow freshman Jacob Delabio was the standout pitcher for NIU, going two shutout innings giving up one hit and striking out three.
 
Notre Dame was led offensively by center fielder Matt Vierling and shortstop Cole Daily who each had 2-3 days with Vierling driving in three runs. The Irish got three and two thirds innings out of their starter Scott Tully then Chris Vorscheck and Cameron Brown pitched the next four and a third innings before Shame Combs and Ryan Smoyer pitched the ninth.
 
"We open up conference this weekend against a tough foe in Toledo," Kunigonis said. "The Rockets are always tough and we need to be ready for a battle this weekend."
 
The Huskies will start Mid-American Conference play this weekend with a location and schedule change at Toledo. The series will be played at Mercy Field in Toledo with Friday's game starting at 6:00 CT, Saturday's first pitch scheduled for 2:00 and Sunday's game to start at noon.