DEKALB – The NIU baseball team (9-24, 5-5 MAC) lost the series opener against Kent State (18-11, 6-1 MAC) 7-4 in ten innings Friday afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field. The two teams combined for nine errors on the day with on two of the 11 total runs being earned.
"When you make four errors in a game, it's going to be very difficult to win," Head Coach
Mike Kunigonis said. "Pitching and defense wins baseball games and today we didn't play defense."
Despite the Huskies' four errors, Kent State committed five of their own, including two in the first innings to allow NIU to take a 1-0 lead to open the game. Another crucial error by the Golden Flashes allowed the Huskies to tie the game in the 8th inning as
Jesus Tovar III came up with an RBI single after the error.
"This team continues to battle and work to give itself a chance to win," Kunigonis said. "We just haven't learned to win yet."
Joe Hawks turned in a quality start for NIU, going six and two thirds innings allowing the only two earned runs of the ball game on either side on a two-run home run in the fourth inning by Kent State first baseman Dylan Rosa.
Junior lefty
George Faue entered the game in the seventh and continued into the tenth where his own defensive play slipped, allowing Kent State to take the lead on his throwing error on a potential double play ball. The Huskies committed two more errors in the tenth to allow the Golden Flashes to score five runs in the inning while only recording one hit.
Offensively, NIU outhit Kent State on the day as they put up 11 hits led by
Joe Jumonville's 3-5 day at the plate.
Tommy Szczasny and
Samuel Vega also added two hits apiece in the game with Vega scoring two of the four NIU runs.
"We will keep at it and be back tomorrow to get right back into this series," Kunigonis said.
These two teams will be back at the Ralph tomorrow afternoon for a scheduled 1:05 p.m. CT first pitch. The Huskies will send right-hander
Nathan Thomas to the mound to face off against Zach Willeman for the Golden Flashes.
