DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University baseball team finished off its first Mid-American Conference series sweep in two seasons Sunday with a 9-4 win over the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Ralph McKinzie Field.
"Once you get into MAC play, it's a new season," said head coach
Mike Kunigonis. "We played a really tough schedule on the front end of the season to prepare us for conference play. We're finally seeing the team we know we can be."
The Huskies are 3-0 in the MAC for the first time since sweeping its conference-opening series at Toledo March 24-26, 2017. Catcher
Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) led the NIU offense going 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI, including his second home run of the season.
Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) also hit a home run in the game.
Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) and
Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) each were 2-for-4.
NIU (7-16, 3-0 MAC) broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth. With a runner on first and one out, Dunham clubbed his second home run of the season over the left field fence to give the Huskies a 4-2 advantage. The Eagles closed to within one run in the top of the seventh when a Nick Jones groundout made the score 4-3. NIU answered with a
Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to give NIU a 5-3 lead.
Eastern Michigan (3-19-1, 0-3 MAC) had a chance to take the lead in the top of the eighth. Cameron Cruz led off the inning by being hit by a
Kyle Seebach (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) pitch. John Rensel then hit a single. Shane Easter reached on a fielder's choice, with Rensel safe at second on an error that allowed Cruz to score and put Eastern Michigan within one, 5-4. After a Devin Hager popout, Seebach walked Nate Jones to load the bases.
Nate Thomas (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) then came into the game and got Josh Timko to ground into a double play, with Larson tagging first and throwing home to put out Rensel and end the inning.
"It's a team game, and today we played defense behind those guys," Kunigonis said about his bullpen's efforts Sunday. "It's not going to be one guy or one unit every game. You have to play as a team and that's what we've emphasized throughout the years. We're one group, 32 strong, and we're here for each other."
Larson led off the eighth with his second long ball of the season, hitting a home run to left field to make the score 6-4. Peters then singled to right field and got to second base on a Caleb Hester wild pitch.
Josh Mutter (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) was hit by a pitch to give NIU runners at first and second.
Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) then put down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Joyce then hit a single to bring in Peters and make the score 7-4. The Huskies then pulled off a double steal, with Joyce taking second and Mutter stealing home to put NIU ahead 8-4. Dunham tacked on another run for NIU with a two-out RBI single to make the score 9-4.
The Eagles had one last chance to tie the game in the ninth. Three straight hits with one out loaded the bases for Eastern Michigan.
Ty Jandrowski (Kenosha, Wis./Madison College) came in from the NIU bullpen and locked up the win, getting Rensel and Easter to fly out to end the ballgame.
NIU starting pitcher
William Anderson (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) had seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits.
Tristan Michaels (Barrington, Ill./Triton College) got his first win as a Huskies, allowing one run on three hits in 2.1 innings with three strikeouts. Jandrowski earned his first save of the season.
The Huskies are in action Tuesday when NIU travels to UIC for a 3:05 p.m. game. Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
--NIU--
