MUNCIE, IN – The Northern Illinois University's baseball team's ninth-inning rally just came up short in a 5-4 loss to Ball State University Sunday afternoon at Ball Diamond Park.

Facing a 4-1 deficit heading into the final frame, the Huskies plated three runs to tie the score, but a Cardinals' walk-off home run down the right field line sealed the victory for Ball State and the weekend series' sweep.

"The margin of error is so small in this game," Huskies' head coach Mike Kunigonis said. "We were two plays away from winning the weekend, but unfortunately the ball didn't bounce our way."

Ball State plated single runs each in the second, third, fourth and eighth innings to take a three-run advantage going into the ninth, but the Huskies engineered three runs on two hits. A bases-loaded walk from Samuel Vega (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Southwestern Junior College) allowed Scooter Bynum (Fairbanks, Alaska /Arizona Western College) to push across the first run, and Brad Wood (Orland Park, Ill./St. Laurence) laced a two-run single to right-center field to knot the score.

Huskies' starting pitcher William Anderson (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) lasted five innings and pitched well enough to win as he struck out four batters and gave up only two earned runs on nine hits.

"Will gave us a good go and kept us in the game," Kunigonis said. "But it just didn't work out."

NIU took the initial lead in the first inning when Wood scored on Kam Smith's (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) RBI sacrifice fly to left field, but Ball State responded in the second inning with an RBI sac fly, followed by a run-scoring single in the third inning.

Wood led the Huskies' offense with three hits, while Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North), Bynum and Ty Jandrowski (Kenosha, Wis./Madison College) each had a hit. NIU moved to 15-28 overall, and 5-13 in the Mid-American Conference.

"We need to be ready to go Tuesday and Wednesday," Kunigonis said. "Both are rivalry games for us."

The Huskies close out their final five-game homestand of the season starting with a 3 p.m. single game with Valparaiso University Tuesday.

--NIU--