ABILENE, Texas - The Northern Illinois University team fell behind early Saturday and could not keep up with the bats of the Abilene Christian Wildcats in a 10-4 loss at Crutcher Scott Field.
"ACU's pitchers have pounded the strike zone against us so far this weekend," said head coach
Ryan Copeland. "We're trying to figure out who were are as an offense, and we're trying to find the right mix of guys for our lineup. We've had opportunites with guys on base but just haven't gotten that big hit."
Abilene Christian (3-0) got out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when a Gino D'Alessio single to left field drove in Garrett Williams and Miller Ladusau. The lead grew to 4-0 in the second on a Williams RBI double and a run-scoring single from DJ Van Atten.
NIU (0-3) got on the board in the top of the third. Shortstop
Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) led off with an infield single. After a fly out and a strikeout,
Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) cracked a double to left field to bring home Demetral all the way from first base to make the score 4-1. Summerhill put himself in scoring position by reaching third base on a passed ball, but ACU starting pitcher Brett Lanman struck out
Mason Kelley (Mt. Washington, Ky./Schoolcraft College) to end the inning.
The Wildcats scored five unanswered runs over the next three innings. Home Runs from Willams and D'Alessio in the bottom of the sixth capped that scoring stretch in the bottom of the sixth inning, putting Abilene Christian ahead 9-1.
The Huskies put two runs on the board in the top of the eighth, an inning that started with a pinch-hit single by freshman
Kayden Jennings (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) in his first career at-bat. He was put out on a fielder's choice off the bat of
Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton).
Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) reached base in his first career plate appearance with a walk. NIU loaded the bases with two outs when Kelley was hit by a pitch.
Christian Seegers (Schaumburg, Ill./Creighton) drove in the two runs on a single to left, making the score 9-3.
NIU scored its four runs on five hits but left eight runners on base. Freshman pitcher
Ty Brachbill (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) made his first career start Saturday. In four innings. Brachbill allowed six earned runs on five hits, striking out five Wildcats while issuing three walks.
Matt Salomonson (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep) allowed two runs in three innings of relief.
"Overall, I thought Ty threw the ball pretty well his first time out," Copeland said. "Their hitters did a good job taking pitches and it took him a bit to get acclimated to facing college hitters. There were a couple times where we needed one more pitch to get out of some innings and Abilene Christian scored runs and we need to be tougher in those spots."
"We always talk a lot about toughness, and tomorrow is a big game for us. There's a big difference between coming home 1-3 or 0-4. I want any team I coach to be tough and reslilient. We need our pitchers to step up and get outs in key situations and our hitters to get on base to string hits along."
The Huskies and Abilene Christian wrap up their four-game season-opening series on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 12 p.m.
—NIU—
