DEKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team used a six-run fifth inning to earn its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season – a 9-5 triumph over Central Michigan University – Sunday afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field.

The Huskies sent 11 men to the plate in the sixth, and connected for three hits – highlighted by a bases-clearing three-run double from redshirt junior Ty Jandrowski (Kenosha, Wis./Madison College) – as they totaled nine hits in the contest in earning their second win in the last four games.

"Good team win today," Huskies' head coach Mike Kunigonis said. "We battled for a full 27 outs."

Freshman right-handed pitcher Michael Lasiewicz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) earned his third win of the season as he worked five solid innings. He struck out six batters to up his season total to a team-best 32, while giving up no runs on five hits.

"Las gave us a quality start and set the table for us to have a good day," Kunigonis said. "It was nice to bust out of our offensive funk with a nine spot."

NIU seized control early as it took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Tommy Szczasny's (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) RBI sacrifice fly, which allowed Brad Wood (Orland Park, Ill./St. Laurence) to score. Wood then laced an RBI single in the second inning plating Hunter Bross (Scottsdale, Ariz./Mesa Community College) and Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) drew a bases-loaded walk as part of the Huskies' six-run outburst in the fifth.  

Prior to Jandrowski's three-run double, Scooter Bynum (Fairbanks, Alaska /Arizona Western College) pushed the Huskies' lead to 5-0 with a two-run single to right field, allowing both Samuel Vega (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Southwestern Junior College) and Szczasny to score.

A day removed from two of its best pitching performances of the season, Central Michigan struggled to get in any sort of pitching groove on the mound as the Chippewas used seven different pitchers.  Tyler Hankins suffered the loss for CMU as he went 4 2/3 innings. He yielded seven hits and scattered seven hits while striking out four batters.

The Chippewas did fight back with two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh, but NIU halted the rally by stranding four runners on base in the final two innings. NIU added its final tally in the seventh when Connor Montgomery (Newport Beach, Calif./Canyon) drove in Dunham after reaching on an error.

The Huskies improved to 6-16 overall and 1-2 in the MAC, and upped their Sunday record to 3-2.

"All around great win," Kunigonis said. "I'm excited for the rest of MAC play."

NIU returns to action Tuesday afternoon when it travels to Chicago to take on the University of Illinois-Chicago at 4 p.m.

--NIU--