ATHENS, OH – A two-RBI single from Joe Jumonville (Munster, Ind./Munster) in the top of the 10th inning broke a 3-3 tie for the Northern Illinois University baseball team as they earned a 6-5 win over Ohio University in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

After suffering a 6-1 setback in the opener, the Huskies bounced back in a big way as they overcame a 2-0 deficit by connecting for 11 hits in earning their eighth win of the season, and second Mid-American Conference win (8-16, 2-3).

"Great grind out win in Game 2," Huskies' head coach Mike Kunigonis said. "We bounced back strong and did a solid job."

Although he didn't earn the win, freshman starting pitcher Michael Lasiewicz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) worked 7 2/3 innings. He scattered four hits and gave up no earned runs while striking out five batters. Red shirt senior Andrew Frankenreider (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) came on in relief and earned his first win of the season as he fanned two batters in 2 1/3 innings of work.

"Las gave us a quality start and Andrew did what we asked of him and more," Kunigonis said.

Ohio took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Game 2 via back-to-back RBI doubles, but the Huskies fought back with an RBI sacrifice fly from Connor Montgomery (Newport Beach, Calif./Canyon) in the fourth, and a wild pitch run in the fifth.

NIU then captured a 3-2 lead in the seventh when Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) scored on Kam Smith's (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) steal attempt, but the Bobcats forced extra frames when it took advantage of a passed ball run in the eighth inning.

Jumonville's hit pushed the Huskies in front in extras, but Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) gave NIU the insurance they needed when he laced a run-scoring single to center field, allowing Brad Wood (Orland Park, Ill./St. Laurence) to score. Ohio did rally in its half of the 10th on a one-out two-run single, but Frankenreider retired the final two batters in order to nail down the victory. 

Both Dunham and Szczasny led the Huskies' offense with three hits each, while Smith had two hits and Wood one.

"We had to manufacture some runs today but it was nice to see the offense battle and come through in the clutch late," Kunigonis said. "We'll be back at it early tomorrow to get the series' win."

NIU closes out the series with a single game at noon Sunday.

--NIU--