AKRON, Ohio - Trailing by one run to the Akron Zips and down to its final out, the Northern Illinois University baseball team scored four runs in the top of the ninth for a 9-6 win at Skeeles Field on Saturday.

NIU (7-11, 4-1 MAC) led 5-0 going into the bottom of the seventh. Akron's Sam Seeker led off the inning with a double. Max Bowman was hit by a Ryan Linkletter (McHenry, Ill./Iowa Central CC) pitch, then Jack Poist followed with a single to load the bases. Charlie Rhee drew a walk to bring in Seeker and make the score 5-1. A passed ball allowed the baserunners to advance with Bowman coming home for the Zips' second run. After a walk to Michael Sprockett, Reagan Klawiter (Verona, Wis./Madison College) struck out Henry Hayman. An Evan Bottone groundout brought in Poist to make the score 5-3.

Akron (3-14, 0-5 MAC) tied the game at 5-5 with a two-run double off the bat of Nicky Sackett. Breydan Cavey then singled to centerfield to bring in Sackett and put the Zips up 6-5.

After a scoreless eighth, NIU's rally in the ninth started with a one-out walk to Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton). Mason Kelley (Mt. Washington, Ky./Schoolcraft College) then laced a single to left field to put the go-ahead run on base. Akron's Anthony Fett got a strikeout for the second out of the inning. JP Gauthier (De Pere, Wis./Illinois State) then stepped up to the plate and laced a double down the left field line, scoring both Erato and Kelley to give NIU a 7-6 lead.

Christian Seegers (Schaumburg, Ill./Creighton) drove in Gauthier with a single to left to make the score 8-6. Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) looped a single to the right field corner to put Seegers in scoring position. Spencer Bartel (Sun Prairie, Wis./Madison College.) put a base hit into right field to bring in Seegers and give NIU a 9-6 lead. Dominic Hann (Washington, Mich./Michigan State) came in from the Huskies' bullpen to get the save in the bottom of the ninth. Pinch-hitter Charlie Schebler led off with a single. After a flyout, Cavey drew a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Hann slammed the door from there, striking out Seeker and getting J Strom to ground out to end the ballgame.

"Our offense picked us up in the ninth," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "To do all that with two outs was pretty special. It was really tough win and we played really well. Akron landed that big punch in the seventh when we went to the bullpen, but I'm really proud of our guys to find a way to pick up our pitching staff today."

NIU's Tommy Meyer (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa East) and Akron's Jared Schaeffer both retired the side in order in each of the first two innings. Gauthier got the first hit of the game with a leadoff single in the top of the third. He later stole second base but was left there. Meyer allowed his first baserunner of the game on a one-out walk to Sprockett in the bottom of the third. He then got a popout and a strikeout to keep the game scoreless.

"Today was probably Tommy's best start in his career at NIU," Copeland said. "He was in complete control and survived a couple innings where Akron had a couple runners on. He's been really, really close this year and just hasn't been able to finish outings and we wanted him to get out there feeling good."

The Huskies got on the board in the top of the fourth. Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) led off with a single. Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) then reached on an error. Erato got on via a fielder's choice that retired Summerhill for the first out. Erato stole second base with Kelley up to bat to give NIU two runners in scoring position. Kelley grounded out to Sackett at shortstop, allowing Demetral to score the first run of the game. Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) followed with a double down the left field line to score Erato and give the Huskies a 2-0 lead. NIU scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to go up 5-0.

Meyer allowed just one hit in six shutout innings on the mound, striking out four Zips while walking three. Gauthier was 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk and two RBI. Nelson and Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) both had two hits as well. Erato was 1-for-3 with two walks, two stolen bases and three runs scored to put NIU in a position to sweep the weekend series on Sunday.

"Opportunities to sweep, especially in conference, are tough to come by," said Copeland. "We need to play our best game tomorrow. Good programs go into tomorrow knowing how to step on the gas and make sure to give themselves every chance to get that third win. We need to be ready to come out and play our best game of the year."

Due to the threat of inclement weather, tomorrow's series finale has been moved up to a 10 a.m. CT start.

—NIU—