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Brandon Johnson
Scott Walstrom, NIU
12
Winner Kent State KENT 9-10
2
Northern Illinois NIU 4-17
Winner
Kent State KENT
9-10
12
Final
2
Northern Illinois NIU
4-17
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kent State KENT 0 0 3 3 0 5 0 0 1 12 12 1
Northern Illinois NIU 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 5 5

W: Chalus, Eric (1-0) L: Lasiewicz, Michael (0-4)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Huskies Drop Series Finale To Kent State 12-2

DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team dropped the final game of its Mid-American Conference series to the Kent State Golden Flashes 12-2 Monday afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field.
 
"We just need to play cleaner baseball," said head coach Mike Kunigonis following Monday's game. "We need to battle and make the routine plays. Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to get better."
 
Kent State (9-10, 5-5 MAC) opened the scoring in the third inning. Kyle Jackson led off the inning with a walk, followed by a two-run home run by Justin Kirby off NIU starting pitcher Michael Lasiewicz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) to make the score 2-0. The Golden Flashes then loaded the bases on two walks and an error. Lasiewicz struck out Mike McNamara for the first out but hit Nick Elsen with a pitch to drive in the third run of the inning. A pair of groundouts kept the Kent State lead to just 3-0.
 
NIU (4-17, 4-6 MAC) put a run on the board in the bottom half of the inning. Brandon Johnson (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) drew a lead-off walk, then stole second base. After Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland CC) was hit by a pitch, Carlos Aranda (Santo Domingo, D.R./Ellsworth CC) hit a fly ball to centerfield deep enough to allow Johnson to advance to third with one out. The Huskies attempted a double steal with two outs, with Barnes getting in a rundown long enough to allow Johnson to take home plate while still getting back to first base safely. Barnes did eventually steal second put Scott Combs (Northville, Mich./Michigan State) popped out to end the inning.
 
The Golden Flashes extended their lead with three runs in the top of the fourth and five in the sixth for an 11-1 lead. NIU put another run on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) led off with a double down the left field line. A wild pitch moved Demetral to third base. Johnson drove the NIU shortstop home with a sacrifice fly, making the score 11-2.
 
The Huskies were held to four hits on the day, with Demetral going 1-for-3 with a run scored.
 
NIU goes on the road on Tuesday, March 29 to take on #14 Notre Dame. First Pitch at Frank Eck Stadium is at 4 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--
 
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