DEKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team scored 10 runs Tuesday at Ralph McKinzie Field, but could not withstand a late UIC rally in a 15-10 loss.
 
"I liked our energy, but we made a lot of mistakes," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "We battled with them, but it wasn't our best day on the mound. A couple other timely hits and we score more than 10 runs."
 
After allowing a run in the top of the first, NIU (10-22) quickly responded in the bottom half of the opening inning. Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) led off with a walk, followed by Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) getting hit by a Braeden Toikka pitch. Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) then delivered the Huskies' first hit, an RBI double that scored Szczasny and tied the game at one. Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) followed with a walk to load the bases. Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) and Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) both drove in a run with a walk to give NIU a 3-1 lead. Dunham scored the Huskies' fourth run of the inning when Alex Rodriguez (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy) grounded into a double play.
 
UIC (13-13) tied the game 4-4 in the top of the second on an RBI double by Derrick Patrick and a two-RBI double by Scott Ota. The Huskies regained the lead in the bottom of the third. With two on and one out, Larson singled up the middle to score Lonteen and give NIU a 5-4 lead. Rodriguez followed with a run-scoring single of his own to extend the Huskies' advantage to 6-4.
 
Just as in the second inning, the Flames tied the game in the top of the fourth. Ota and Ryan Hampe delivered back-to-back RBI singles to level the game at six. NIU took back its lead in the bottom of the fourth. After back-to-back singles by Szczasny and Joyce, Lonteen brought in the Huskies' leadoff man with an RBI groundout to second base that made the score 7-6. Dunham and Drobushevich then drew consecutive walks to load the bases. Larson then drove in his third run of the game with a base hit to right field, scoring Joyce to put NIU up 8-6. UIC's Nick Oliff then got Rodriguez to ground into an inning-ending double play.
 
The Flames came alive in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs highlighted by a two-run single by Patrick to take a 10-8 lead. After NIU left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, UIC scored four more runs in the eighth to go ahead 14-8. NIU put two runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth, getting an RBI double from Josh Mutter (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) and a run-scoring single by Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) to get within four at 14-10. The Flames put one final run on the board in the top of the ninth to win 15-10.
 
Larson had a season-high three hits and three RBI in the game. Lonteen had his third three-hit game of the year, going 3-for-4 with two RBI, two walks, and two runs scored. Szczasny, Joyce, and Drobushevich each had two hits.
 
NIU now prepares for a weekend series at Western Michigan beginning Friday.
 
"We have to pitch better down there," Kunigonis said. "Those guys are hitting well. They're going to be the same offense we faced today. We need to learn our lesson from that and understand that we can't get behind in counts. If we learn from that, then that's something to take from today."
 
The Huskies and Broncos open their series on Friday, April 12 at 2:05 CT.
 
--NIU--