DEKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team led the Kent State Golden Flashes 10-5 through six innings Saturday, but the visitors scored six unanswered runs in the final three innings to win the game 11-10.
"We didn't execute on many different things," said head coach
Mike Kunigonis. "We should have scored more runs early. The game's not won or lost in the ninth inning, but from the first pitch on. Unfortunately, we didn't tack on early and you get what we had today. It happens in baseball."
NIU (12-26, 8-6 MAC) broke a 1-1 tie in the third inning with four runs. With runners at first and second with one out,
Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) hit a single to left field to score
Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) and give the Huskies' a 2-1 lead.
Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) followed with a run-scoring single to make the score 3-1. After
Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) was hit by a pitch,
Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) laced a single up the middle to bring in Lonteen and Dunham and give NIU a 5-1 lead with one out. Golden Flashes starting pitcher John Matthews got out of the inning by getting
Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) to popout and striking out
Josh Mutter (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North).
Kent State (17-19, 6-6 MAC) responded with four runs in the fourth to tie the game at five. Collin Mathews hit an RBI double, followed by a three-run home run from Alex Ronnebaum. The Huskies took back the lead in the bottom half of the inning.
Paddy McKermitt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) started the threat by being hit by a pitch, getting to third on a double by Szczasny.
Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) drove in McKermitt with a sacrifice fly to give NIU a 6-5 lead. Lonteen then drew a walk to give NIU runners at the corners with one out. Dunham smashed a single through the left side to score Szczasny and make the score 7-5.
NIU reliever
Ty Jandrowski (Kenosha, Wis./Madison College) kept the Huskies in front with two scoreless innings of relief. The redshirt-senior entered the game in the fifth inning for
Michael Lasiewicz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) and stranded five Kent State baserunners, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out two. The Huskies earned some more breathing room with three runs in the sixth on a two-RBI Drobushevich single and a wild pitch that scored Dunham and put NIU ahead 10-5.
The Golden Flashes' rally started in the seventh when Ben Carew hit a two-out, two-run home run off
Kyle Seebach (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) to make the score 10-7. The Huskies had a runner on third in both the seventh and eighth innings but could not build on their lead.
Nate Thomas (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) came in to close the game in the ninth, but Thomas walked the bases loaded to start the final inning. Ronnebaum then hit a two-run single to make the score 10-9.
Parker Kirkpatrick (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence) then came in from the NIU bullpen. Carew hit a two-run double to put Kent State up 11-10, but was thrown out at third trying to stretch it to a triple. Kirkpatrick then struck out Nick Elsen and got Justin Kirby to popout to end the inning. Kent State's Pavin Parks retired NIU in order in the bottom of the ninth to give the Golden Flashes the win.
Dunham was 3-for-4 in the game with two RBI and three runs scored. Drobushevich was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Smith had three RBI to give him eight for the first two games of the series.
The rubber game of this weekend's three-game series is scheduled for 12 p.m. Sunday.
--NIU--
