FRANKLIN, Wis. - The Northern Illinois University baseball team got a dominant pitching performance and some timely hitting to snap its losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Panthers at Franklin Field Wednesday night.
 
"Our guys have kept showing up ready to go and battle," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "Everything clicked for us tonight in all facets of the game. We played very good baseball and got the win we've been working towards."
 
NIU (8-35) trailed 1-0 through five innings. After a fielder's choice for the first out of the top of the sixth, Aaron Harper (Hemet, Calif./Mt. San Jacinto College) singled through the right side to give the Huskies a pair of baserunners. Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) put the Huskies on the board in a big way, launching a three-run home run over the left centerfield wall to give NIU a 3-1 lead. Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) followed with a single to right field, but Panthers relief pitcher Sam Mathews got a double play to end the inning.
 
Milwaukee (20-22) got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Aaron Chapman hit a solo home run to left field with two outs, making the score 3-2. The NIU bullpen shut down the Panthers from there. Brandon Doty (Lincoln, Neb./New Mexico State) retired the side in the seventh, getting a strikeout and a pair of flyouts. Tommy Meyer (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa East) entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and promptly struck out the side.
 
He struck out Mark Connelly leading off the bottom of the ninth for his fourth straight punchout. Meyer then got Chapman to ground out to Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) and Justin Hausser to line out to Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) at second base to slam the door on Milwaukee and come away with the win.
 
Meyer, Doty, Reagan Klawiter (Verona, Wis./Madison College), Mason Ruh (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran HS), Jackson Stewart (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Area CC) and Matt Salomonson (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep) combined for a season-high 13 strikeouts for Huskie pitching. Salomonson started the game and had two strikeouts in two innings. Stewart had three in his two innings of work while Ruh struck out the side in the fifth and earned his second win of the year. NIU held Milwaukee to two runs on three hits with three walks.
 
"We had a great start from Matt and our middle relief got the job done as well," Kunigonis said. "Meyer has been working real hard for this opportunity tonight and he was dominant at the end."
 
Summerhill's home run was his team-leading ninth of the season, and his third in the last four games. Harper was 2-for-4 at the plate as the designated hitter, giving him a hit in 10 of the last 12 games.
 
NIU opens its final Mid-American Conference home series of the season on Friday, May 5 with a 3 p.m. game against the Toledo Rockets. First pitch on Saturday, May 6 is set for 1 p.m. On Sunday, May 7 NIU will honor its seven seniors on Senior Day prior to the 12 p.m. first pitch.
 
--NIU--