OXFORD, Ohio -- Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill.) drove in a pair of runs while
Brandon McPherson (Chicago, Ill.) and
Jacob Wilde (Waukesha, Wis.) combined to strike out 11 as the Northern Illinois University baseball team picked up a 4-2 victory over Miami on Sunday afternoon (March 19) at McKie Field at Hayden Park.
"It was a great team win today," said NIU head coach
Mike Kunigonis. "McPherson and Wilde were awesome on the mound for us today. We manufactured offensively and scratched out for runs playing Huskieball. I'm really proud of these guys for bouncing back and grinding out the win today."
Andrew Smart (Evanston, Ill.) had a pair of hits for NIU while the Huskie hurlers combined to allow just five hits. McPherson went five innings, striking out seven while allowing just two hits and no runs. Wilde threw four innings in relief, striking out four while scattering three hits with one earned run.
After McPherson struck out the side in the bottom of the first, NIU opened the scoring in the second. Smart doubled down the left field line to open the inning and scored on a two-out single by Peters, putting the Huskies in front.
The Huskies added to their lead in the sixth. Singles from
Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill.) and
Parker Shupe (Johnston, Iowa) forced Miami to go to their bullpen and Summerhill scored on a line out to center by Smart, giving NIU a 2-0 lead.
Miami scored a run in the bottom of the inning as Ryland Zaborowski tripled and came home on a ground out by Zach MacDonald.
Three bunts led to another run for the Huskies in the seventh as they regained a two-run advantage.
Tyler Thierry (Bloomington, Ill.) led off with a bunt single and advanced to second on an error. He moved to third on a bunt single from
Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis.) and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Peters.
A leadoff single from Smart helped NIU add to its lead in the top of the ninth. A sac bunt and a flyout moved Smart to third before he scored on a passed ball with two outs as the Huskies took a 4-1 lead.
The RedHawks scored an unearned run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth but Wilde got a ground out from David Novak to end the game and give NIU its first conference victory of the season.
Up next for the Huskies is a three-game set against Ohio, starting on Friday, March 24, with the home opener against the Bobcats, scheduled for 3 p.m. at Ralph McKenzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park.
