CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO – The Northern Illinois University baseball team rallied from a two-run deficit with five runs in the eighth inning to win 7-4 at Capaha Field against the Southeast Missouri Redhawks Friday afternoon.
 
"We had some clutch two-out hits and played solid defense today," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "This team does a great job at battling in every at-bat. We have the firepower to change a game offensively in any inning."
 
NIU (2-3) trailed SEMO 4-2 heading into the decisive eighth inning. After a groundout to start the frame, Brady Huebbe (Peru, Ill./Illinois Valley C.C.) drew a walk and reached second base on a balk by Redhawks reliever Grossius. Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) followed with a walk, leading to a SEMO pitching change. Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) welcomed Blake Cisneros to the game with a base hit to left center, scoring Huebbe to make the score 4-3. Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) tied the game at four with a single up the middle to bring in Dunham.
 
Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) gave the Huskies their first lead. After Larson and Lonteen advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch, the senior third baseman ripped a single to left center to score both runners and make the score 6-4. Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) was the sixth Huskie to reach base with an infield single, leading to SEMO's second pitching change of the inning. Keegan Meyn came into the game and got Alex Rodriguez (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy) to ground out which advanced Szczasny to third and Drobushevich to second. Meyn then threw a wild pitch that allowed Szczasny to score and put NIU up 7-4.
 
Kyle Seebach (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) slammed the door on the Redhawks from there. The junior reliever retired the side in the bottom of the eighth as well as the ninth to secure the Huskies' second straight win.
 
Southeast Missouri (1-4) opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first on back-to-back RBI singles from Justin Dirdin and Austin Blazevic. NIU starting pitcher Michael Lasiewicz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) came back to get Wade Stauss and Lincoln Andrews to fly out to end the inning.
 
NIU got on the board in the top of the fourth when Dunham hit a solo home run over the right field fence for NIU's first hit of the game, making the score 2-1. The Huskies tied the game with a two-out rally in the top of the fifth. Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) started the threat with a single to left field. Joyce then got to third base on a Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland C.C.) base hit to right field. Huebbe drove in Joyce with a single to left center to make the score 2-2.
 
Lasiewicz did his best to keep the game tied in the bottom of the fifth. SEMO had runners at first and second with one out. The junior right-hander got Andrew Keck to fly out and Tyler Wilber to ground into a fielder's choice to erase the threat. The Redhawks broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth with a Stauss RBI double to take a 3-2 lead. SEMO tacked on another run in the seventh on an Andrew Keck sacrifice fly to go up 4-2.
 
Seven of NIU's nine hitters in the starting lineup had a hit Friday. Lonteen was 2-for-5 as Joyce was 1-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base at the top of the order. Lasiewicz scattered nine hits over six innings, allowing three runs with no walks and four strikeouts. Seebach earned the win, allowing one run on no hits in three innings with a pair of walks and four strikeouts.
 
"Lasiewicz battled again for us and gave us a chance to hit our way back into the game," Kunigonis said. "Seebach was fantastic and unhittable once he settled in."
 
The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, with game one scheduled for a 12 p.m. first pitch.
 
--NIU--