DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University baseball team belted 12 hits Saturday, but got a bases loaded hit by pitch in the fifth inning to take the lead for good in a 4-3 win over the Eastern Michigan Eagles Saturday at Ralph McKinzie Field.
"We're starting to see the team that we've seen as coaches," said head coach
Mike Kunigonis after the Huskies win. "We haven't seen this team consistently throughout the year. We're starting to see the group that we have seen since August, that we knew what we're capable of. It's nice to see."
Eastern Michigan (3-18-1, 0-2 MAC) put together a two-out rally in the fifth to tie the game at three. Josh Timko reached on fielder's choice with two outs, as an error in the infield allowed the bases to be loaded. Owings delivered with a two-run single to center, bringing in Shane Easter and Alex Wolanski.
NIU (6-16, 2-0 MAC) broke the tie in the bottom of the fifth. NIU got off on the right foot with three straight hits from
Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North),
Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College), and
Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School). Eagles reliever Mitchell Sparks then struck out both
Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) and
Paddy McKermitt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central). However, Sparks hit
Josh Mutter (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) with a pitch to bring Dunham in to score and put NIU ahead 4-3.
Freshman starting pitcher
Erik Hedmark (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown) did his part to keep NIU in front, allowing just one baserunner in the sixth and seventh innings. With one out in the eighth, the freshman gave up a triple to Owings.
Tristan Michaels (Barrington, Ill./Triton College) came in from the bullpen and got a huge strikeout of Nick Jones. He then got Kauffman to fly out to end the threat and keep the score 4-3.
Nate Thomas (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) came in in the ninth to close out the game. Thomas cancelled out two walks with two strikeouts and got Wolanski to fly out to put the exclamation point on NIU's second straight win to open conference play.
Hedmark was in a groove early on the mound, allowing just one Eastern Michigan hit in the first three innings. The Huskies staked Hedmark to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third. With one out,
Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) was hit by a Nick Porretto pitch.
Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) then laced a double to left center, giving NIU runners at second and third. After a Dunham groundout, Lonteen drove in both runners with a single to left center to put the Huskies ahead.
Eastern Michigan put a run on the board in the top of the fourth inning. Zachary Owings led off by reaching on a Hedmark error, getting all the way to third base. Two batter later, Jared Kauffman drove in Owings with a groundout to Lonteen. NIU went back up by two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Mutter started a two-out rally with a double to centerfield. After a
Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) walk, Joyce smacked a single to right center to bring Mutter in to score and make the score 3-1.
Hedmark (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown) earned his first career win Saturday, allowing three unearned runs in 7.1 innings with five hits and no walks. Thomas earned his second consecutive save, and fourth of the season.
"He's a calming presence on the mound," Kunigonis said of Hedmark. "Our guys love playing defense behind him. They love playing when he's on the mound because they just know we're going to get a quality start and have an opportunity to win. That's what he did today. He battled and grinded and had a lot of movement today which led to a lot of groundballs."
Lonteen was 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI. Joyce, Dunham, and Larson were each 2-for-4 as eight of the nine hitters in the NIU lineup had a hit.
NIU looks for the series sweep as the Huskies and Eagles wrap up their three-game series on Sunday at 12 p.m.
--NIU--
