CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University baseball team opened its weekend series against the Xavier Musketeers Friday afternoon with an 8-3 loss at Hayden Field.
Xavier (14-12) took a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first, capped by a three-run home run off the bat of right fielder Carter Hendrickson. NIU got a run back in the top of the second.
Tyler Thierry (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland CC) drew a walk leading off the inning, followed by an
Andrew Smart (Evanston, Ill./Oakton CC) single. A wild pitch from Xavier starter Ethan Bosacker moved the runners to second and third.
Kaden Kosobucki (West De Pere, Wis./West De Pere) reached on a single deep in the hole at shortstop, driving home Thierry to make the score 5-1.
The Musketeers tacked on a run in the bottom of the third on a leadoff home run by designated hitter Tyler DeMartino, making the score 6-1. After allowing the Huskies' run in the second, Bosacker retired 11 consecutive NIU batters before
Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) drew a two-out walk in the fifth. Erato stole second base but Bosacker got a strikeout to end the inning.
NIU (5-19) got back on the board in the top of the seventh. Smart led off the inning with a home run down the left field line, his first of the season, to make the score 8-2.
Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) later added a double to right center with one out.
Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) drove home Nelson with a two-out single to centerfield to get the Huskies within five at 8-3.
The Huskies had a runner in scoring position in the top of the eighth. Thierry was hit by a Creighton Hansen pitch with one out, stole second and got to third base on a passed ball. Kosobucki drew a walk to give NIU runners at the corners with two out but Hansen got out of the inning with a strikeout. NIU put its first two batters on base in the ninth on a
Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) single and an error that allowed Erato to reach base. Hansen got Demetral to hit into a double play, then got a strikeout to finish the game and give Xavier the series-opening win.
"We dug ourselves into an early hole and couldn't overcome," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "We had ample opportunities to close the gap but didn't execute."
Smart was 2-for-4 in the game. Kosobucki was 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk, stolen base and run batted in. Relief Pitcher
Dominic Hann (Washington, Mich./Michigan State) allowed two runs in five innings on three hits, striking out two batters.
"Hann did a nice job out of the bullpen and gave us a chance to scratch back in the game," Kunigonis said.
The two teams will play the middle game of the series on Saturday, April 1 at 12 p.m. CT.
--NIU--
