MELISSA, Texas – The Northern Illinois University baseball team dropped a hard-fought pitcher's duel against the Kansas Jayhawks 3-1 at the Melissa Sports Complex Saturday to wrap up the weekend's three-game series.
"Today was a tough loss," said head coach
Mike Kunigonis. "Our pitching staff did a fantastic job of battling all day. They did more than enough to win today."
NIU (2-9) threatened to score in the top of the first.
Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) led off the game with a single, stole second base, then got to third on a wild pitch with no outs. After a
Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) strikeout,
Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) hit into a fielder's choice that saw Kansas pitcher Eli Davis throw out Drobushevich at home.
Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) then grounded out to end the inning.
The Huskies scored first in the top of the second inning.
Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) reached first on a two-out single.
Connor Montgomery (Newport Beach, Calif./Canyon) then got on base after an error by Kansas third baseman Skyler Messinger.
Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) drove in Larson with an RBI single to right field to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
NIU starting pitcher
Ty Jandrowski (Kenosha, Wis./Madison College) held Kansas to two hits in the first two innings, striking out two in the second inning. The Jayhawks tied the game at one in the third. James Cosentino laced a single through the right side of the infield with two outs, driving home Casey Burnham to make the score 1-1.
The Huskies nearly took back the lead in the top of the fourth. With runners at second and third with two out,
Alex Rodriguez (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy) attempted to steal home but was caught. NIU left another runner on third in the fifth as Joyce was left stranded after a Lonteen groundout and Szczasny strikeout.
Kansas (8-3) took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth on a leadoff home run by Nolan Metcalf. The Jayhawks had a chance to extend its advantage in the sixth. After hitting Cosentino with a pitch and allowing a one-out single to Brett Vosik,
Tristan Michaels (Barrington, Ill./Triton College) entered the game in relief of Jandrowski. Michaels proceeded to strike out Messinger and get Benjamin Sems to ground out to Rodriguez at second base to end the threat.
The Huskies had an opportunity to tie the game in the seventh. Joyce doubled to left field with two outs, followed by a walk from Drobushevich. Davis then got Lonteen to hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning. Kansas added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to make the score 3-1.
Joyce was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Larson was 2-for-4. Jandrowski allowed two runs on six hits in 5.1 innings pitched, striking out four batters with no walks. Michaels had two strikeouts in his 1.1 innings of relief. Davis allowed one unearned run in seven innings, scattering six hits, four strikeouts, and two walks. Jonah Ulane allowed a walk in the ninth and struck out two for the save.
"We need to continue to work on the offensive side and take advantage of opportunities when we have them," Kunigonis said. "We had runners in scoring position multiple times but couldn't get the big hit. We're a good team and we'll start to the fruits of our labor very soon. We need to continue to grind it out and find a way to win."
The Huskies are back on the road next weekend, March 8-10, for a three-game series at Southern Illinois. The series starts with a 3 p.m. game on Friday, March 8.
--NIU--
