CARBONDALE, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team scored a season-high 12 runs on 13 hits Saturday afternoon against the Southern Illinois Salukis at Itchy Jones Stadium, but SIU scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth to come from behind and win 13-12.
Eight of the nine Huskies in the lineup had a hit on the day. The leadoff man and designated hitter
Nick Drobushevich (Moline. Ill./Moline) had a team-high three hits and drove in two runs.
Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School),
Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) and
Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) each had two hits with Smith adding two RBI.
Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) was 1-for-3 and had a career-high four RBI.
"It was a day to score runs, given the conditions," said head coach
Mike Kunigonis. "We jumped out early and did a good job to add on as the game went on. Unfortunately in wasn't enough today."
NIU (5-20) trailed 3-1 before exploding for six runs in the top of the fourth. Smith led off the inning with a home run to make the score 3-2.
Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) then singled to right center.
Morgan Holmes (Minneapolis, Minn./Des Moines Area C.C.) put the Huskies ahead 4-3 with his first career home run, a two-run shot over the left field fence. After back-to-back singles from Erato and Peters, a squeeze bunt from
Jack Blazevich (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South) scored Erato from third and made the score 5-3. NIU put two more runs on the board on a Joyce RBI groundout and an RBI single from Smith to go ahead 7-3.
The Huskies tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth on a two-out, two-run single by Joyce to take a 9-3 lead. SIU closed within two runs in the bottom of the sixth when a three-run home run from Philip Archer and a solo shot from Cody Cleveland made the score 9-7. The Huskies answered the Salukis' four runs with three in the top of the seventh, as a two-run double off the bat of Drobushevich put NIU ahead 12-7.
SIU (22-6) got within four runs on a J.T. Weber sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 12-8. The Salukis cut the deficit to two, 12-10, in the eighth on RBI singles from Tony Rask and pinch-hitter Brad Hudson. A Tristan Peters sacrifice fly then made it a one run game as Walters came home to put the score at 12-11. Weber put the Salukis 13-12 with a two-run double down the left field line with two outs. The Huskies got the tying run on base in the ninth but could not get the run across.
Weber and Archer both had three RBI for SIU. Trey McDaniel earned the win for the Salukis, allowing one unearned run over 2.2 innings with three strikeouts.
The Huskies and Salukis meet again on Sunday at 1 p.m.
--NIU--
