ATHENS, Ohio – Behind stellar pitching from Adam Brouwer (Tinley Park, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) and Jackson Stewart (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Area CC), along with 10 hits, the Northern Illinois University baseball team took the rubber game of the first Mid-American Conference series of the season 6-1 over the Ohio Bobcats at Bob Wren Stadium.
 
Brouwer was dealing early, retiring the Ohio side in each of the first three innings. Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) had the first two hits of the game, leading off the game with a single to left and a stolen base. In the third inning Erato cracked a two-out single to right field.
 
Ohio (5-8, 1-2 MAC) got its first baserunner in the bottom of the fourth when Brouwer hit Cole Williams with a pitch. A JR Nelson sacrifice bunt moved Williams into scoring position and Gideon Antle delivered the game's first run with an RBI single through the right side of the NIU infield. Alex Finney then singled to left center to give the Bobcats runners at first and second with only one out. Brouwer got out of the inning by getting Jackson Cauthron to foul out to Aaron Harper (Hemet, Calif./Mt. San Jacinto CC) at third base and Pauly Mancino to fly out.
 
NIU (5-11, 2-1 MAC) responded quickly in the top of the fifth. CJ Cepicky (St. Louis, Mo./Missouri) led off with a single to left field. After a flyout, Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) ripped a single to right. Erato drove home Cepicky with a double down the left field line, his third hit of the game, to tie the game 1-1. Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) put NIU ahead 2-1 with a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Nelson to score from third base.
 
The Bobcats had a chance to get back on the board in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Bryce Smith singled through the right side followed by a Nick Dolan double. Brouwer retired Williams for the second out but hit Nelson with a pitch to load the bases with two out. The redshirt-sophomore got Antle to ground out to escape the inning unscathed.
 
"Adam has been throwing the ball a lot better than his numbers indicate," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "It was just a matter of time for him to have a little more luck on the mound. Getting out of that bases loaded jam with one of the best hitters in our conference at the plate was huge. Harper made a great play to get us out of the inning, and then we turned the ball over to Stewart who gave us four shutout innings."
 
NIU put a pair of insurance runs on the board in the top of the seventh. Nelson started the surge with one out by reaching on a throwing error by Dolan. After a strikeout for the second out, Demetral was hit by a pitch and Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) drew a walk to load the bases. Mason Kelley (Mt. Washington, Ky./Schoolcraft College) drove in two runs with a single to left, making the score 4-1. Cepicky launched his first home run as a Huskie in the top of the eighth, a two-run shot, to extend the NIU lead to 6-1.
 
"Once we got into Ohio's bullpen we were able to add on some runs," Copeland said. "Any time you're playing a conference game, and when the conditions were what they were with the wind howling out to right field, it feels like there's never enough runs. We found a way to keep tacking on runs and put the game out of reach."
 
Brouwer allowed one run on four hits in five innings, striking out four Ohio batters to earn his first win as a Huskie. Stewart earned the save by throwing four scoreless innings of relief. Erato was 3-for-5 at the plate with a double and two stolen bases. Cepicky and Nelson each had two hits and scored two runs.
 
The Huskies are back in action on Wednesday, March 13 at Purdue. First pitch in West Lafayette, Ind. is at 3 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--