MUNCIE, IN – The Northern Illinois University baseball team was held to three runs Friday as the Ball State Cardinals swept Friday's doubleheader at the Ball Diamond At First Merchants Ballpark Complex. The Cardinals won game one 3-1 in nine innings and the seven-inning nightcap 6-2.
Game one was a pitcher's duel between NIU's
Kyle Seebach (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) and Ball State's John Baker. Baker retired the Huskies' lineup in order in each of the first three innings while Seebach left two runners on base in the first and got out of a bases loaded jam in the second.
NIU's (7-25, 6-12 MAC) first hit of the game also resulted in its first lead of the day.
Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) led off the top of the fourth with a home run over the left centerfield fence to give NIU a 1-0 lead. Seebach kept the Huskies ahead with three more shutout innings, getting Aaron Simpson to ground into an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the sixth to keep the score 1-0.
Ball State (23-11, 14-4 MAC) tied the game in the bottom of the eighth. Noah Navarro led off with a single off of NIU relief pitcher
Erik Hedmark (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown), reaching second on a throwing error. Ross Messina drove in Navarro with a single to left center to tie the game 1-1. After a sacrifice bunt moved Messina to second, the Cardinals took the lead on an RBI double off the bat of Ryan Peltier to go up 2-1. Trenton Quartermaine followed with a run-scoring single to make the score 3-1. Baker went the distance for Ball State, retiring the NIU side in order in the ninth to lock up game one. The right-hander allowed just one run on four hits, striking out eight.
"We had opportunities to score but Baker kept us off balance all game," said head coach
Mike Kunigonis. "Kyle gave us a great start in game one and Erik came in and gave us a chance. We didn't execute enough at the plate or on the defensive side for those guys."
Seebach, in his first career start after 46 career appearances out of the bullpen, threw a career-high six innings with a career-high six shutouts. The senior allowed no runs on two hits and four walks.
The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning of game two, getting RBI base hits from Peltier and Decker Scheffler. Chayce McDermott did his part to keep the Huskies' bats quiet, striking out nine NIU batters in the first five innings. Ball State tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-0 lead.
NIU put a run on the board in the top of the sixth as a
Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland C.C.) double down the left field line drove home
Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) to make the score 6-1. Redshirt-Sophomore pitcher
Matt McCumber (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) came into the game in the bottom of the sixth in relief of
Michael Lasiewicz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) to make his first career appearance as a Huskie. McCumber retired the side in order with a strikeout. Joyce made the score 6-2 in the top of the seventh with an RBI double that plated
Brady Huebbe (Peru, Ill./Illinois Valley C.C.), but that would be all the scoring for NIU in the nightcap.
"It was great to see
Matt McCumber get his first collegiate opportunity and compete for us," Kunigonis said. "It has been a long time coming and I'm extremely proud of him."
Barnes, Joyce, and
Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) each had a double in game two. McDermott allowed one run on four hits in six innings for the win, striking out 12.
NIU and Ball State will play another doubleheader on Saturday, starting with a seven-inning game at 11 a.m. followed by a nine-inning game. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
--NIU--
