DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team scored 19 runs on 20 hits Saturday to sweep a doubleheader against the Ohio Bobcats at Ralph McKinzie Field by scores of 9-1 and 10-9.
"We've been waiting for performances like this from this team, and we're happy they came today," said head coach
Mike Kunigonis. "This is what we've seen as coaches from this team for a year now and everybody else got to see it today. We played Huskie Ball today – we hit sacrifice flies, took extra bases, stole bases. That's what we've been waiting for and we have to continue this momentum into tomorrow."
NIU (7-22, 5-10 MAC) got a dominant pitching performance from sophomore
Brandon McPherson (Chicago, Ill./Wabash Valley College) in the opener. The Huskies staked him to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a
Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) RBI double and an RBI single from
Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College). Ohio got a run back in the top of the second on a Trevor Lukkes sacrifice fly that made the score 2-1, but that would be the only run McPherson allowed.
The Huskies extended the lead to 3-1 in the fourth on a run-scoring double from
Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland CC).
Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) made the score 4-1 in the fifth when he led off the inning with a home run off the scoreboard in left center. The Huskies put the exclamation point on the game one win with five runs in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted by a Lonteen grand slam that made the score 9-1.
McPherson got the complete game win, striking out seven Bobcats in seven innings with five hits and three walks. Lonteen was 3-for-3 in game one with five RBI.
Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) was 2-for-3 with a run scored.
"Brandon gave us a good start when we needed a good start," Kunigonis said. "He wanted the ball in the end to finish what he started. That definitely set the tone for game two. We wanted to keep that good feeling going because it hadn't happened in a while."
Ohio (16-13, 10-9 MAC) got off to an early 2-0 lead in the nightcap on a two-run double from catcher Mason Minzey. The Huskies answered with three runs in the bottom of the second, as a two-run Joyce double and a
Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) RBI double gave NIU a 3-2 lead. The Bobcats scored twice in the third to go up 4-3, but a
Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning tied the game 4-4.
The Bobcats broke the tie with three runs in the sixth when a Minzey RBI single made the score 7-4. NIU rallied back in the bottom of the sixth, starting with pinch-hitter
Brandon Johnson (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) reaching on an infield single. Joyce was hit by a pitch to give the Huskies runners at first and second. Drobushevich then launched a three-run home run over the right field fence to tie the game at seven.
Barnes kept the line moving with a base hit to right field and got to second on a Smith groundout. Dunham put NIU ahead 7-6 with an RBI single up the middle, driving home Barnes. Lonteen drew a walk from Ohio reliever Edward Kutt IV, taking second on a wild pitch on ball four that allowed Dunham to reach third with one out. With the runners in motion, freshman
Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) put down a sacrifice bunt that scored both runs to make the score 10-7. Ohio scored twice in the top of the seventh, but left the tying run at second as
Parker Kirkpatrick (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence) struck out Witwer-Dukes to end the game and sweep the doubleheader 10-9.
Drobushevich was 2-for-4 with four RBI in game two. Erato and Joyce both drove in a pair of runs with Erato going 2-for-3.
The two teams wrap up their weekend series on Sunday at 12 p.m. The game will be available via Huskie All-Access and live stats on NIUHuskies.com.
--NIU--
