TOLEDO, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University baseball team fell behind 8-0 to the Toledo Rockets after four innings Friday afternoon at Scott Park and made a late rally, ultimately coming up one run short in an 8-7 loss.
 
NIU (9-18, 5-6 MAC) was down 8-1 going into the eighth inning. After a strikeout to start the frame by Toledo relief pitcher Brennan McCune, Aaron Harper (Hemet, Calif./Mt. San Jacinto CC) doubled to right field. Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) drove in Harper with a single up the middle to make the score 8-2. After an Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) single, Parker Shupe (Johnston, Iowa/Kirkwood CC) launched a three-run home run over the right field wall to get NIU within three at 8-5. A walk to Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) knocked McCune out of the game.
 
Kyle Music entered from the Toledo bullpen and walked Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy), then threw a wild pitch that allowed Erato and Summerhill to advance one base each. Mason Kelley (Mt. Washington, Ky./Schoolcraft College) cleared the bases with a double to get NIU within a run at 8-7. After a lineout, Jacob Tabor came in the game for Toledo and got a strikeout to end the rally.
 
Reagan Klawiter (Verona, Wis./Madison College) and Jackson Stewart (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Area CC) combined to strand two Toledo runners on base in the bottom of the eighth to keep the deficit at one run going into the ninth. Harper reached on an infield single, his third hit of the game, to put the tying run on base. However, Tabor retired the side as the Rockets escaped with the 8-7 win.
 
"It was a tale of two different games in one," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "We just didn't play well at the plate or on the mound to start. Once Toledo went to the bullpen we started to look better and have some life. We found a way to fight back in the eighth and get some offense going and it felt like we really had a chance to win. It was just a little too late for us."
 
Toledo (13-13, 8-3 MAC) opened the scoring for the second straight day with a Garrett Pike home run in the bottom of the first. The Rockets extended their lead in the second inning. Caden Konczak drew a leadoff walk and scored on a Parker double that made the score 2-0. Parker later scored on a Scott Mackiewicz groundout to give Toledo a 3-0 lead.
 
NIU got its first hit of the game off of Toledo starting pitcher Noah Johnson in the top of the third inning on a leadoff single from Harper (Hemet, Calif./Mt. San Jacinto CC). Johnson got out of the inning with two fielder's choices and a groundout to keep the Huskies scoreless. The Rockets tacked on another run in the bottom half of the inning to go up 4-0.
 
Toledo broke the game open with four runs in the fourth, sparked by back-to-back home runs from Mackiewicz and Pike, to take an 8-0 lead. Johnson retired 12 straight NIU batters before Erato led off the seventh with a double down the left field line. Summerhill drove in Erato with a single up the middle for NIU's first run of the game. Johnson got out of the inning with a double play and a strikeout.
 
Huskie pitchers Jake Kohanzo (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and Alex Day (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) combined to throw four scoreless innings of relief Friday. Kohanzo went a career-high three innings, allowing just two hits while striking out a career-high four batters. Day threw a perfect seventh inning with a strikeout.
 
"Jake was really good today," Copeland said. "The original plan was for him to kind of settle the game down but he kept Toledo off balance and was pounding the strike zone so we kept sending him back out there to give us the best chance to fight back. Alex was really good on Tuesday at Northwestern and he was just as good today. He continues to show improvement as a freshman with each outing."
 
NIU and Toledo wrap up their series on Saturday, March 30 at 12 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--