DeKALB, IL - The Northern Illinois University baseball team could not keep up with the bats of the Northwestern Wildcats on Tuesday afternoon, falling 16-5 at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park.
 
"We had a clean first inning and a chance to get in front early, but just didn't get the hit when we needed it," said head coach Mike Kunigonis following the game. "Northwestern got the hits when they needed them. We just need to flush this game and get ready for tomorrow because it's a double midweek."
 
NIU's (7-26) Jacob Wilde (Waukesha, Wis./Madison College) retired the Wildcats in order in the top of the first. The Huskies put two runners on base with one out in the bottom of the inning after back-to-back singles from Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) and Aaron Harper (Hemet, Calif./Mt. San Jacinto CC). Northwestern starting pitcher Sam Garewal got Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) to pop out then struck out Tyler Thierry (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland CC) to get out of the inning.
 
Northwestern (6-25) got on the board in the top of the second on a leadoff home run from catcher Alex Calarco. It was the first of five runs for the Wildcats, with an Evan Minarovic RBI single putting the visitors ahed 5-0. Northwestern scored four more runs in the top of the third as a two-run single from Tony Livermore put the Wildcats ahead 9-0.
 
The Huskies got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when a Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) solo home run made the score 9-1. It was Peters' third home run of the season. Summerhill led off the sixth with a home run over the left centerfield fence, his team-leading sixth long ball of the year. After Thierry was hit by a pitch, Andrew Smart (Evanston, Ill./Oakton CC) crushed a ball over the left field fence for a two-run shot that made the score 9-4.
 
"It was nice to see Malik, Colin and Andrew have quality at-bats and put the barrel on the ball," said Kunigonis. "We barreled up some balls today, but they were hit right at guys whether it was to second, third or centerfield."
 
Northwestern answered the Huskies' three-run sixth with three runs in the seventh to go up 12-4. The Huskies added another run to their tally in the bottom of the seventh when a Harper groundout scored Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) who led off the inning with a double down the left field line. The Wildcats scored twice in both the eighth and ninth innings to come away with the 16-5 win.
 
Smart and Demetral each had two hits in the game. Demetral extended his current hitting streak to 12 games. He has also reached base in 30 straight games.
 
The Huskies wrap up their current homestand on Wednesday, April 19 with a 3 p.m. game against Illinois State.
 
--NIU--