YPSILANTI, Mich. - The Northern Illinois University baseball team closed the 2023 season Saturday afternoon with a 7-1 loss to the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Oestrike Stadium.
NIU's (10-43, 5-24 MAC)
Brandon McPherson (Chicago, Ill./Wabash Valley College) and Eastern Michigan's Sam Reed were locked in a pitchers duel early in Saturday's season finale. The Huskies put their first two batters on base to start the game with
Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) reaching on a double followed by an
Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) walk. Reed got out of the inning with a pair of flyouts and a caught stealing. The Eagles loaded the bases with two outs in the first, but McPherson put a zero on the board with a strikeout of Aaron Dolney. The Huskies left four runners on base in the first three innings with Eastern Michigan stranding five as the game remained scoreless.
Eastern Michigan (27-26, 12-18 MAC) broke the deadlock in the bottom of the fourth when Dolney led off with a home run to centerfield, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, a Josh Kross two-run home run extended Eastern Michigan's advantage to 3-0. The Huskies had a chance to cut into the Eagles' lead in the top of the sixth.
Aaron Harper (Hemet, Calif./Mt. San Jacinto CC) led off with a single, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. After a popout
Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) laced a base hit through the left side of the infield. Reed held off the Huskies by getting
Andrew Smart (Evanston, Ill./Oakton CC) to hit into an inning-ending double play.
The Eagles grew their lead to 6-0 with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, two of which came on a Kross single. NIU got on the board in the top of the seventh inning.
Spencer Bartel (Sun Prairie, Wis./Madison College) drew a leadoff walk, getting to second on a
Tyler Thierry (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland CC) hit by pitch.
Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) hit a deep fly out to right field which allowed Bartel to reach third base. Erato drove in Bartel with a sacrifice fly to make the score 6-1. Eastern Michigan got that run back on a leadoff home run by second baseman Cory Taylor, putting the score at 7-1.
Erato, Harper, Peters, Smart and Thierry accounted for the five Huskies hits on the day. McPherson allowed three runs on five hits over five innings, striking out five Eagles while walking four. Reed allowed one run on four hits in his seven innings on the mound with seven strikeouts. Kross was 3-for-5 with four RBI.
NIU wraps up the 2023 campaign with a record of 10-43.
—NIU—
