DEKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team got seven shutout innings from senior William Anderson (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) and three RBI from freshman Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) in a 5-2 win over the Ohio Bobcats at Ralph McKinzie Field Saturday afternoon.
 
"Will did a fantastic job today," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "We needed some length out of our starters the last two days and we got it. Both of those guys had some trouble early, but they grinded out of it and did great."
 
Anderson got off to a good start, retiring the first two batters he faced. He then hit Rudy Rott with a pitch and walked Trevor Hafner and Michael Richardson. With the bases loaded and two out, Anderson got Treyben Funderburg to ground out to end the threat. He then stranded another two Ohio runners in the second inning.
 
NIU (9-21, 5-3 MAC) gave Anderson some run support in the bottom of the third. Alex Rodriguez (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy) led off with a single. After a Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) flyout, Rodriguez stole second base and got to third as Ohio catcher Nathan Mallott's throw went to centerfield. Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) drove in Rodriguez with a base hit to left center, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) then reached on an error and stole second base. With two outs, Drobushevich cleared the bases with a single to right field to put NIU up 3-0.
 
The Huskies added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Drobushevich came through with another two-out hit, driving in Joyce from third base on an infield single to Funderburg at shortstop that made the score 4-0. The freshman right fielder got to second base when Funderburg's throw went wide of first base. Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) then drove a base hit to right field, scoring Drobushevich from first base to give NIU a 5-0 lead. Anderson was in a groove after his second inning. The senior right-hander retired 13 consecutive Bobcats before allowing a two-out Richardson infield single in the top of the sixth. He then worked around a leadoff walk in the seventh to retire the side.
 
"Coach always preaches having a big shutdown inning after we score, and after we scored three I was just trying to put the ball over the plate," said Anderson, who got his first win of the season Saturday. "If they hit it, it would take a couple hits to get three runs. I was going to make them work and get us back in so our bats could get going."
 
Ohio (8-20, 3-5 MAC) attempted a rally in the ninth. Ryan Sargent drew a walk off of Kyle Seebach (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) to lead off the inning. After a Sebastian Fabik flyout, Trevor Lukkes doubled down the left field line to give the Bobcats runners at second and third with one out. Seebach then struck out Levy for the second out. Rott then smashed a double to right field, driving in both runners to make the score 5-2. That was as close as Ohio would get as Seebach struck out Hafner to wrap up NIU's fifth consecutive home win in Mid-American Conference play.
 
"We're playing better and we need to continue to play better," Kunigonis said. "We had a great day today. There's nothing like winning a series and we've given ourselves another opportunity to sweep a weekend. We just have to come out and battle again tomorrow."
 
Anderson allowed five hits and three walks in seven innings. Drobushevich was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a stolen base. Joyce was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. The Huskies stole five bases on Saturday, tying a season-high set on March 12 at Kansas State.
 
NIU and Ohio wrap up their weekend series on Sunday at Ralph McKinzie Field. First pitch has been moved up to 11 a.m.
 
--NIU--