DEKALB – The NIU baseball team  (8-17, 4-0 MAC) won in convincing fashion over Bowling Green (5-17, 1-3 MAC) in their home opener on Friday with an 11-0 victory. The Huskies 11 runs came on 14 hits with five extra base hits, four doubles and a home run by Samuel Vega.
 
"The guys did a good job today of grinding away and battling every inning," Head Coach Mike Kunigonis said. "The combination of quality starting pitching and sound fundamentals on defense is the key to our success."
 
Senior RHP Joe Hawks won his third-straight game on the mound for NIU, going seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out five. Hawks now has a team-leading 3.03 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 38.2 innings pitched.
 
"Hawks did a great job today giving us another quality start," Kunigonis said.
 
Four Huskie batters notched multiple hits on the day with Vega getting four hits and scoring four runs. The junior infielder's big shot came in the form of a solo home run in the fifth inning for his first home run at NIU.
 
The Huskies' big inning came in the sixth as they batted around, scoring six runs on six hits and forcing two Bowling Green pitching changes.
 
"We had good at bats all game and got big hits when we needed them," Kunigonis said. "We need to be ready to go and do the same thing tomorrow."
 
NIU played 14 position players in the game, with a high amount of subs after the sixth inning. Freshmen pitchers Jacob Delabio and Blake Walker each threw shutout frames in the eighth and ninth respectively to close the win out for NIU.
 
These two teams will go back at it tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at noon, after a rescheduling of Sunday's game due to forecasted rain. Nathan Thomas and Donovin Sims will start for NIU on the mound with Chase Antle and Zac Carey getting the ball for Bowling Green.