WINTER HAVEN, FL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team opened the 2020 season Friday afternoon with a 7-2 loss to the Boston College Eagles at Chain of Lakes Park, leaving nine runners on base.
 
"We definitely had our opportunities in the game," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "They had a couple two-out hits and we didn't. Both teams made some mistakes and Boston College just happened to capitalize on a couple more than we did. The 7-2 score doesn't really dictate that game."
 
Boston College (1-0) opened the scoring with four runs in the bottom of the first. Brian Dempsey hit a two-run home run to left field to put the Eagles up 2-0. Cody Morissette then hit a single to left and scored on a triple by Joe Suozzi to make the score 3-0. Jack Cunningham drove in Suozzi with a single up the middle to make it 4-0. The Huskies' starting pitcher Michael Lasiewicz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) stemmed the tide from there, getting two strikeouts as Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) caught Cunningham attempting to steal second.
 
NIU (0-1) cut Boston College's lead in half in the top of the fourth. Brady Huebbe (Peru, Ill./Illinois Valley C.C.) started the rally with a one-out single. Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) drove in Huebbe with a double to left to make the score 4-1. Lonteen then advanced to third on a Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) groundout to Dempsey at shortstop. Wade Rankin (Columbus, Ind./Kankakee C.C.) drew a walk to give the Huskies runners at the corners with two outs. NIU then pulled off a double steal with Lonteen scoring to put the score at 4-2, and Rankin advancing to third after Eagles second baseman Lucas Stalman had an errant throw attempting to put out Lonteen. The Eagles held NIU to two runs as starting pitcher Mason Pelio got a groundout to end the inning.
 
Lasiewicz did his part on the mound to keep the score 4-2, getting double plays in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings. NIU had a chance to get back in the game in the sixth but left runners at first and second. The Eagles added a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run single by Dempsey to take a 6-2 lead, then scored another insurance run in the eighth to go up 7-2.
 
Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) was 2-for-4 at the plate for NIU with a walk and a stolen base. Larson was 1-for-2 and walked twice. Lasiewicz took the loss on the mound, allowing four runs on six hits in six innings. The junior right-hander had five strikeouts as relievers Kyle Seebach (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Township) and Paul Turelli (Lake Forest, Ill./Heartland C.C.) both had three strikeouts in the seventh and eighth innings respectively.
 
"We worked through some nerves early in the first," Kunigonis said. "Once we got out of the first we settled in. Mike [Lasiewicz] did a good job to give us six innings and outpitched their starter from the second inning on. It was a great job to help save our pen in game one for the rest of the weekend."
 
NIU and Boston College resume this weekend's series with a doubleheader Saturday. Game one is set for 12 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--