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March 12, 2021: During the game three between the Northern Illinois Huskies and the Kansas State Wildcats at Reckling Park in Houston, Texas. (Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics)
Maria Lysaker
2
Northern Illinois NIU 4-18
11
Winner Notre Dame ND 13-5
Northern Illinois NIU
4-18
2
Final
11
Notre Dame ND
13-5
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Northern Illinois NIU 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3
Notre Dame ND 1 4 0 1 0 5 0 0 X 11 14 0

W: R Kimball (1-0) L: Langreder, Connor (0-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

NIU Falls at #13 Notre Dame 11-2

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Northern Illinois University baseball team was held to two runs on three hits Tuesday afternoon in an 11-2 loss to the #13-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Frank Eck Stadium.
 
Notre Dame (13-5) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a Jared Miller solo home run over the left field wall. The Fighting Irish extended their advantage to 5-0 in the second, with a Zack Prajzner RBI single and TJ Williams RBI double starting a four-run frame.
 
NIU (4-18) got its first hit of the game in the top of the third on a one-out single from Paddy McKermitt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) down the left field line. He advanced to second on a passed ball. Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) then drew a walk, and McKermitt and Demetral pulled off a double steal to move into scoring position. Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) drove home McKermitt with a groundout to make the score 5-1. Demetral later scored on a passed ball to get NIU within three, 5-2.
 
The Fighting Irish put another run on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Prajzner scored from third base on a wild pitch, making the score 6-2. Notre Dame broke the game open again in the bottom of the sixth, scoring five times to go up 11-2. The Huskies had a chance to get back in the game in the top of the eighth, loading the bases with two outs on walks by Demetral and Tyler Thierry (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland CC) and an Erato single. However, Carlos Aranda (Santo Domingo, D.R./Ellsworth CC) hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
 
"It wasn't the outcome we wanted but I was happy to see us be much better on the mound," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "We did a good job of getting ahead early in counts and forcing contact. It's something we can build on heading into the weekend."
 
Erato finished the game 1-for-4 at the plate and drove in his team-leading 14th run of the season. Relief Pitchers RJ Nowicki (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Barrington) and Drew Hasson (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) each threw a scoreless inning.
 
NIU returns to Ralph McKinzie Field this weekend for a four-game Mid-American Conference series against the Miami RedHawks. The series begins on Friday, April 1 at 3 p.m.
 
--NIU--
 
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