KENT, OH – The Northern Illinois University baseball team got two outstanding pitching performances from
Brandon McPherson (Chicago, Ill./Wabash Valley College) and
Connor Langreder (West De Pere, Wis./West De Pere) Saturday to sweep a doubleheader against the Kent State Golden Flashes at Olga Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium by scores of 2-1 and 3-0.
"McPherson was fantastic and gave us a great start in the opener," said head coach
Mike Kunigonis. "Connor gave us a Pitcher of the Week performance in game two. He was nothing less than masterful. We had great timely hitting when we needed it in both games and grinded out two wins."
NIU (4-10, 3-0 MAC) managed just two hits in game one but made them count. Down 1-0 after the first, the Huskies got their first base runner in the top of the second when
Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) reached on an error by Kent State starting pitcher Luke Albright. Larson eventually stole second with two outs. Freshman
Brandon Johnson (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) tied the game 1-1 with a double to left center, bringing Larson around to score.
Jack Blazevich (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South) put the Huskies ahead with an RBI single down the right field line to give NIU a 2-1 lead.
McPherson shut down the Golden Flashes from there. The sophomore allowed just two hits and two walks over the next five innings to keep NIU in front. McPherson struck out six batters over six innings in game one, allowing one run on five hits.
Kent State (6-8, 0-3 MAC) threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Kyle Jackson drew a walk off of reliever
Tristan Michaels (Barrington, Ill./Triton College) leading off the inning. Jackson stole second and reached third on a sacrifice bunt.
Nate Thomas (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) came on and got the final two outs to earn his first save of the season and get NIU the 2-1 win in the opener.
Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) staked Langreder to a 1-0 lead in game two with his first home run of the season, a solo shot over the left field fence. Langreder retired the side in order in the first and pitched out of a jam in the second. Collin Matthews led off the inning with a single and reached second on a sacrifice bunt. Langreder struck out Justin Kirby for the second out, but a wild pitch allowed Matthews to get to third. The freshman got out of trouble by getting Mack Timbrook to popout to
Paddy McKermitt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) at shortstop to end the threat.
The Huskies tacked on two more runs in the third. Blazevich got the inning started when he reached on an error, and two outs later, senior outfielder
Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) drew a walk to put two runners on base. Dunham drew a walk to load the bases, then
Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) delivered a single to plate Blazevich and Joyce to make the score 3-0. Smith went 2-for-4 at the plate in the nightcap.
Langreder took over from there, allowing just two hits in the final five innings to lock down the complete game shutout. He struck out seven while allowing just three hits, throwing NIU's first complete game shutout since
Michael Lasiewicz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) blanked Miami 4-0 at the Mid-American Conference Tournament on May 22, 2019.
"We have been talking about how close this group has been all year and we showed today what every person on this team has believed for the past 11 months," Kunigonis said.
NIU and Kent State wrap up their series on Sunday at 12 pm.
--NIU--
