DEKALB – The NIU baseball team (15-34, 9-12 MAC) lost the series finale to Eastern Michigan (21-31, 12-9 MAC) 14-3 Sunday afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field. The Eagles were powered by a three-homerun performance by right fielder Jordan Peterson who hit two in one inning, including a grand slam.
"Not the way we wanted to end the weekend on the field," Head Coach
Mike Kunigonis said. "But we will battle on and get ready for the last week of the regular season."
Two big innings cost the Huskies on Sunday as EMU scored eight runs in the third inning behind the two home runs from Peterson in that inning and five more runs in the ninth when Peterson hit his third in the form of a three-run shot.
Offensively the Huskies got a 2-2 game from
Roderick Bynum who knocked a single and his team leading fifth triple of the season with
Joe Jumonville recording a single and two walks on the day.
With their 9-12 record in Mid-American Conference play, NIU is tied in the loss column with Western Michigan (9-12), Toledo (8-12) and Buffalo (8-12) with one series left to play before the MAC tournament. The Huskies will face Miami (7-14) next week with Buffalo and Western Michigan facing off and Toledo taking on Eastern Michigan.
"We control our own destiny and that is all you can ask for going into the last weekend of the year," Kunigonis said.
The day ended on a high note for the Huskies as nine NIU baseball players took part in a special graduation ceremony after being unable to attend NIU's Undergraduate Ceremonies on Saturday.
Following NIU players earned their degrees:
Ryne Blanton – Economics
Andrew Frankenreider – Operations and Information Management
Jason Gasser – Communications- Organization and Corporate
Brandon Mallder – Accountancy
Carl Russell – Communications- Organization and Corporate
Aaron Rumfield – Bachelor of General Studies
Jon Savarise – Communications- Organization and Corporate
Austin Stout – Bachelor of General Studies
Luke Yapp – Bachelor of General Studies
