SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Northern Illinois University baseball team dropped both seven-inning games of Saturday's doubleheader to Sacramento State at John Smith Field by scores of 8-0 and 2-0.
 
Game two was a pitcher's duel between NIU's Kyle Seebach (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) and Sacramento State's Noah Lucchesi. The Huskies had the first scoring threat in the game in the top of the second. Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) doubled to left with one out, and one batter later Kaden Kosobucki (West De Pere, Wis./West De Pere) drew a walk. Lucchesi got out of the inning by getting a groundout. The Hornets got two runners on base with one out in the bottom of the third, but Seebach got out of the jam with a double play.
 
NIU (0-3) had another opportunity to score in the top of the fourth. Kosobucki reached base on a single, then got to third on an Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence-Darlington Tech) single through the right side of the infield. Demetral then stole second to give the Huskies two runners in scoring position. Lucchesi kept those runners on base with a strikeout to end the inning. Seebach kept doing his part to keep the game scoreless, stranding two runners on base in the fourth and pitching a 1-2-3 fifth that included his fourth strikeout of the game. 
 
Sacramento State (3-0) scored the only runs of the game in the bottom of the seventh. Seebach got the first two outs of the inning, but Martin Vincelli-Simard reached on a single to keep the game alive. Josh Walker then hit a walk-off two-run home run over the right field fence to give the Hornets a 2-0 win.
 
The Huskies left seven runners on base in the nightcap. Kosobucki was 1-for-1 with two walks in the game. Peters, Demetral, Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland C.C.) and Carlos Aranda (Santo Domingo, D.R./Ellsworth C.C.) each had a hit in the game. Seebach struck out five in 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits.
 
"Kyle gave us everything he had in game two," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "He was awesome and deserved to win that game the way he pitched."
 
NIU lost game one of the doubleheader 8-0 as Sacramento State's Colin Hunter threw a seven-inning no-hitter. It was the first time NIU had been no-hit since March 8, 2014 at Oregon State. The Hornets got on the board in the bottom of the first when Steven Moretto hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Trevor Doyle. Sacramento State put five runs on the board in the bottom of the third to take a 6-0 lead, highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of Dawsen Bacho. 
 
"We need to be better at the plate offensively," Kunigonis said. "We need to be better at grinding out at-bats. We'll get it right and be the team we know we can be."
 
The two teams wrap up the weekend series on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--