EDINBURG, TX –  The Northern Illinois University baseball team battled the UTRGV Vaqueros in a doubleheader Sunday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium, but lost both games by one run as UTRGV won the opener 4-3 in eight innings and 5-4 in a seven-inning game two.
 
"Today's outcomes were not what we wanted but I was extremely happy with the character we showed to bounce back and battle," said head coach Mike Kunigonis.
 
Just as they had in each of the first two games of the series, NIU (1-6) scored first in game one of the twinbill. Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) got NIU's first hit of the game with one out in the first on an infield single. Brady Huebbe (Peru, Ill./Illinois Valley CC) followed with a double to left field to give NIU runners at second and third. Ariza got Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) to pop out for the second out, but Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) stepped up and delivered a two-run single to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead.
 
Brandon McPherson (Chicago, Ill./Wabash Valley Col.) did his part on the mound to make that lead hold up. After retiring the side in the bottom of the first, the sophomore right-hander pitched out of a bases loaded situation by striking out DeAndre Shelton. The Vaqueros had runners at the corners with two outs but McPherson ended the threat by getting Diego Ramirez to ground out to end the inning.
 
UTRGV (7-4) got on the board in the bottom of the sixth. The Vaqueros had runners at first and second with two outs when Christian Sepulveda singled up the middle to drive in Coleman Grubbs to make the score 2-1. Freddy Rojas Jr. then put UTRGV ahead with a two-run double to make the score 3-2. Smith tied the game 3-3 in the top of the seventh with a solo home run over the left field fence. The Huskies had runners at second and third with two out but could not take back the lead as reliever Chase Bridges got Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) to fly out to end the inning. Paul Turelli (Lake Forest, Ill./Heartland C.C.) came on in relief in the bottom of the seventh and worked around a pair of walks and force extra innings.
 
The Vaqueros walked off with the win in game one in the bottom of the eighth. With the bases loaded and two out, Shelton singled to centerfield to drive home the winning run as UTRGV won the game 4-3.
 
Smith was 2-for-3 at the plate in game one and drove in all three NIU runs. McPherson took a no-decision, allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
 
"Brandon was fantastic in game one and we just didn't make enough plays behind him," Kunigonis said. "We battled to the very end and Kam came up huge for us offensively."
 
UTRGV opened game two with a four-run first inning, highlighted by a two-run double from Grubbs. The Vaqueros led 5-0 when NIU got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth. Drobushevich led off the inning with a single through the left side, followed by an infield single from Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central Col.). After two straight outs Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) drove both runners in with a double to left center, making the score 5-2.
 
NIU nearly completed the comeback in the top of the seventh. Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland C.C.) led off with an infield single. Paddy McKermitt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) then laced a triple to right center to bring in Barnes and make the score 5-3. After a strikeout, Drobushevich drove in McKermitt on a groundout to the shortstop Sepulveda to get NIU within a run, 5-4. The rally ended there, however, when UTRGV reliever Deryk Serbantez struck out Lonteen to end the game.
 
"We showed a lot of toughness in game two to battle through a rocky start and give ourselves a chance to win," said Kunigonis.
 
McKermitt was 2-for-3 in the nightcap with an RBI and a run scored. Barnes was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Relief pitchers Kyle Seebach (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) and Tristan Michaels (Barrington, Ill./Triton College) combined to allow one unearned run on two hits with four strikeouts over three innings.
 
NIU heads back to Texas next weekend to play four games against Rice and Kansas State in Houston. The Huskies open the weekend on Friday, March 12 with a 12 p.m. game against Kansas State at Reckling Park followed by a 5 p.m. game against the host Owls.
 
--NIU--