CHICAGO, IL – Not even two weeks removed from a tough setback to the University of Illinois-Chicago, the Northern Illinois University baseball team returned the favor with a 5-1 win over the Flames Tuesday afternoon at Curtis Granderson Stadium.

NIU took advantage of seven hits, and four Flames' errors to even the season series at one apiece. The Huskies also earned their third win in the last five games in improving their record to 7-16 overall.

"Good grind out win today. They made some mistakes early, and we really made them pay for it," Huskies' head coach Mike Kunigonis said. "I thought we were on the barrels all game and didn't get paid off for some great at bats, but we kept battling and got it done."

NIU used a trio of pitchers, led by a solid outing from sophomore Blake Walker (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard), who earned his first win of the season. Walker worked five innings, and fanned three batters before giving way to Eric Hammer (Rochester, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley) and Parker Kirkpatrick (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence), who combined to throw the final four innings.

"Great performance by our three pitchers," Kunigonis said. "Blake gave us a good start and he was backed up strong by Hammer and Parker, who was fantastic for us again."

Kirkpatrick came on in relief in the seventh, and retired the final four batters he faced to earn his first save of the season.

NIU snagged a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) singled and scored on two UIC errors. The Huskies moved ahead 3-0 when Scooter Bynum (Fairbanks, Alaska /Arizona Western College) smacked a two-run home run to right field, allowing Samuel Vega (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Southwestern Junior College) to score.

UIC plated a run in the second inning via an RBI single, but NIU added a run in the fifth on a balk, and one more in the ninth when Brad Wood (Orland Park, Ill./St. Laurence) singled, advanced to second on a Joe Jumonville (Munster, Ind./Munster) groundout, third on a wild pitch and scored on Vega's single up the middle.

Both Wood and Bynum each had a hit to lead the Huskies' offense, while Szczasny, Vega and Kam Smith each had a hit.

"It's good to gather a little momentum going into next weekend's series with Ohio," Kunigonis said.

NIU resumes Mid-American Conference play Friday-Sunday as the Huskies travel to Athens, Ohio for a three-game series with the Ohio Bobcats. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday.

--NIU--