CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University baseball team split its doubleheader against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday at UC Baseball Stadium. Cincinnati won the first game 6-5 in seven innings as the Huskies took the nightcap 6-4.

"Our guys showed a lot of resiliency today," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "In both games we had opportunities to punch back and rally or extend leads. We battled back to tie game one late but just gave up too many free passes. We showed our toughness in game two. We got an early lead and Ty Brachbill gave us a great start. Our bullpen got the outs we needed to lock up that win. Now we have some momentum going into tomorrow's series finale."

NIU (3-9) opened game two taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) and Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) drew back-to-back walks off of Cincinnati starting pitcher Griffin Hugus to open the game. Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) hit into a fielder's choice that retired Demetral at second, but Bearcats second baseman Luke Sefcik threw the ball wide of first base to allow Parcell to score. The Huskies put another run on the board in the top of the third. With Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) at second base after a leadoff single and a sacrifice, Demetral laced a single to centerfield to drive in the NIU second baseman and put the Huskies up 2-0.

Freshman pitcher Ty Brachbill (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) held Cincinnati (6-5) scoreless through the first four innings, allowing just three hits while striking out three. His classmates Parcell and Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) combined for NIU's third run of the game in the top of the fifth. Cohn led off with a double, then reached third on a Nelson sacrifice bunt. Parcell drove him in with a base hit to right.

"All three were players we recruited to Illinois-Springfield and followed us to NIU," Copeland said about the trio of Brachbill, Parcell and Cohn. "They're talented and are getting some good experience early in the year. Ty was outstanding in protecting the early lead with gave him. Cooper had three hits and threw out a runner trying to steal against a team that wants to be aggressive on the basepaths. When you have three freshman step up like that, it's a big sign for the future."

Cincinnati (6-5) broke through in the bottom of the fifth, scoring a run on an error and another on a Sefcik single to make the score 3-2. The Huskies answered the Bearcats' two runs in the top of the sixth. Mason Kelley (Mt. Washington, Ky.) led off with a walk, followed by an Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) double to give NIU two runners in scoring position with no outs. Hugus retired the next two Huskie batters. Cohn then stepped up to the plate and cracked a three-run home run over the left field wall, his first career long ball, to give NIU a 6-2 lead.

Mason Ruh (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran HS) came in from the NIU bullpen in the bottom of the sixth and delivered two scoreless innings of relief. Cincinnati closed within two runs in the top of the eighth when a Tommy O'Connor two-run blast made the score 6-4. Cincinnati loaded the bases with two outs but Reagan Klawiter (Verona, Wis./Madison College) struck out Landyn Vidourek to end the inning.

The Huskies had a chance for some insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Parker Shupe (Johnston, Iowa/Kirkwood CC) led off with a walk, followed by a Cohn single. Nelson put down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. However, a popout and strikeout held NIU scoreless and kept the score at 6-4. DJ Hess (Germantown, Wis./College of Lake County) came in to close in the bottom of the ninth. He retired the first two Bearcat batters, but an error and an O'Connor single gave Cincinnati runners at the corners with two out. Hess slammed the door with a strikeout of Kerrington Cross to give NIU the 6-4 win in the nightcap.

Cohn was 3-for-4 with three RBI in game two. Demetral was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Brachbill earned his second straight win, allowing two unearned runs over five innings with five hits, two walks and four strikeouts.

Summerhill staked NIU to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game one with his seventh home run of the year. The Bearcats tied the game in the bottom of the inning, scoring a run on a double play with the bases loaded. O'Connor put Cincinnati up 2-0 in the third on an RBI groundout. Cincinnati scored another run in the fourth and two in the fifth on a wild pitch and a bases loaded walk to go up 5-1.

The Huskies clawed back into the game with two runs in the sixth. Parcell led off with a walk, eventually getting to third on throwing error by Cincinnati shortstop Max Palmieri that gave NIU runners at the corners. Summerhill beat out a fielder's choice to bring Parcell home and make the score 5-2. Kelley then doubled down the left field line, scoring Summerhill all the way from first to put NIU within two at 5-3. Matt Salomonson (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep) came in from the bullpen and put a zero on the board to send NIU to the seventh and final inning needing two runs to tie the game.

Shupe led off the seventh with a base hit, followed by a Nelson single. Parcell then reached on an error that allowed Nelson to get to third and Shupe to score, making the score 5-4. A Demetral sacrifice fly brought home Nelson to tie the game at 5-5. Ryan Insco then entered the game from the Cincinnati bullpen and got the final two outs of the inning. Salomonson retired the first Bearcat batter in the bottom of the seventh, but then loaded the bases with on two walks and a hit by pitch. Cincinnati walked off with the 6-5 win when Salomonson hit Josh Hegemann with a pitch, allowing Palmieri to score the winning run.

Kelley and Erato each had two hits in the opener. Tommy Meyer (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa East) allowed three runs on six walks and just one hit, striking out six Bearcats.

NIU and Cincinnati close out this weekend's series on Sunday, March 3 at 12 p.m. CT.

— NIU—