RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Sophomore Connor Montgomery (Newport Beach, Calif./Canyon) hit a home run for the second straight day Sunday as the Northern Illinois University baseball team wrapped up its weekend series against the California Baptist University Lancers at Totman Stadium. CBU won both games of Sunday's doubleheader, taking game one 10-7 and game two 8-0 in seven innings.
 
"Things didn't go the way we wanted them too, but we saw some very good things out of a talented group," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "Our goals and aspirations are very much alive and well. We'll make some adjustments this week in practice and work to get in the win column."
 
NIU (0-4) got off to a fast start in game one. Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) led off with a single off of CBU starting pitcher Mason McGarvey, followed by walks from Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) and Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincon-Way North) to load the bases. McGarvey allowed a third consecutive walk to Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) which brought in Joyce for the game's first run. Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) then hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, driving in Lonteen to put the Huskies ahead 2-0. With runners at second and third, Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) grounded out to Luke Navigato at second base which scored Szczasny and gave NIU a 3-0 lead.
 
California Baptist (4-0) came back in the bottom of the first. Chad Castillo got the Lancers on the board with an RBI base hit to left field. After NIU starting pitcher Mike Fuentes (Midlothian, Ill./Bremen) struck out Andrew Bash, Ryan Mota drove in Castillo with a single up the middle to make the score 3-2. The Lancers took the lead, 4-3, on a two-run double by Rory Smith and tacked on a fifth run with a Billy Rockefeller RBI double.
 
The Huskies got a run back in the top of the second when a Lonteen double brought Joyce around to score, making the score 5-4. CBU responded with three runs in the bottom of the third, highlighted by a two-run Rockefeller single, to take an 8-4 lead. Freshman pitcher Erik Hedmark (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown) came in to relieve Fuentes in the top of the fourth and struck out four in three innings, allowing one unearned run.
 
Trailing 10-4, the Huskies got a run in the top of the eighth on a leadoff home run by Montgomery. He drove in another run in the top of the ninth, smacking an RBI single up the middle to score Dunham and make the score 10-6. Pinch-hitter Alex Rodriguez (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy) then doubled to left field to bring in Montgomery and get the Huskies within three, 10-7. The rally ended there, as Drew Necochea got Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) to line out to end game one.
 
Hedmark, Ryan Anderson (Palatine, Ill./McHenry CC), and Eric Hammer (Rochester, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley) combined to allow just two runs on two hits in five innings of relief in game one. The trio struck out six Lancers and gave up two walks. Joyce and Montgomery were both 2-for-4 with two runs scored in game one.
 
Game two started as a pitcher's duel between CBU's Jorge Valerio and NIU's William Anderson (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East). The two starters allowed just three hits in the first two innings of the seven-inning game. The Lancers broke the deadlock in the bottom of the third. With runners at second and third and one out, Bash laced a two-run single to left center to give CBU a 2-0 lead. Anderson then walked Mota and Harrison Spohn to load the bases. After a Glenn foul out for the second out, a wild pitch brought Bash around the score and give the Lancers a 3-0 advantage. Anderson walked Smith to load the bases again, leading to Kyle Seebach (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Township) to enter the game in relief. Seebach walked Rockefeller, which scored Mota to make the score 4-0. He then got Angelo Capolupo to fly out to end the inning.
 
Valerio held NIU's bats in check from there. The Lancers hurler allowed one baserunner in the next three innings, finishing his day with six strikeouts in six shutout innings. CBU added four runs, taking advantage of three NIU errors, in the fifth to take an 8-0 lead.
 
NIU is back in action on Thursday, Feb. 21 when the Huskies travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn to take on the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the first game of the Mule Mix Classic. First Pitch is at 3 p.m.
 
-NIU--