CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO – The Northern Illinois University baseball team hit four home runs and scored 22 runs against the Southeast Missouri Redhawks in a doubleheader Saturday at Capaha Field but split the day's games. NIU won the opener 7-5 with SEMO taking game two 16-15 in 10 innings.
 
"We battled all day and showed some toughness in some difficult spots," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "The offense has been doing a great job this weekend capitalizing on every mistake. We'll bounce back from a tough game two loss and be ready to win a weekend tomorrow."
 
NIU (3-3) scored first in game one as Alex Rodriguez (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy) hit a two-out, two-run double in the second inning. SEMO got a run back in the bottom half of that inning, then took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third behind a Justin Dirden RBI triple and a run-scoring single from Austin Blazevic.
 
The two teams traded runs going into the top of the sixth when NIU regained the lead. Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) led off the inning with a home run to left center to tie the game at four. After a Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) double and a Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) single with one out, the Huskies took a 5-4 lead on a Rodriguez squeeze bunt. SEMO tied the game at five in the bottom of the seventh.
 
The Huskies took back the lead in the top of the eighth. Dunham led off with a walk followed by a Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) single. Lonteen then advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Szczasny stepped up to the plate and cleared the bases with a two-run single to left center, putting NIU ahead 7-5. Relief pitcher Nate Thomas (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) made that lead hold up. The senior pitched the final four innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits with six strikeouts to earn the win in game one.
 
"Nate did a great job shutting them down in game one to close the door," Kunigonis said. "Our starting pitching did a good job to give us two quality starts and give us a chance to win."
 
Game two started much the same as the opener, with NIU scoring in the top of the first. Back-to-back RBI singles from Dunham and Larson put the Huskies up 2-0. The lead grew to 3-0 as Larson got in a run-down long enough to score Dunham from third base before being picked off to end the inning. The Redhawks made the score 3-2 in the bottom of the first on a two-run single from Wade Stauss.
 
Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) led off the second inning with his first home run of the season to give the Huskies a 4-2 lead. Smith's homer started a stretch of nine unanswered runs for NIU. Szczasny hit a two-run shot over the right field fence in a three-run fourth to make the score 7-2. The Huskies scored five runs in the fifth, highlighted by a three RBI triple from Smith to take a 12-2 lead.
 
SEMO (2-5) chipped away at NIU's lead with one run in the fifth and two in the sixth to make the score 12-5. The Huskies got a lead-off home run from Szczasny in the seventh, his second of the game, to take a 13-5 lead. After the Redhawks scored in the bottom of the seventh, NIU took a 15-6 lead on back-to-back sacrifice flies from Dunham and Lonteen. SEMO tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with nine runs, as a Danny Wright grand slam and a Dirden two-run home run made the score 15-15. The Redhawks loaded the bases with one out in the 10^th before Andrew Keck delivered the game-winning single to give SEMO the 16-15 victory.
 
Szczasny was 5-for-7 in the two games with two home runs and six RBI, scoring five runs. Dunham also scored five runs on the day with a home run and three RBI. Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with five RBI in the two games. As a team, the Huskies had 25 hits in the two games with 10 walks and four stolen bases.
 
The two teams wrap up this weekend's series Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
--NIU--