TOLEDO, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University baseball team took an early lead Saturday afternoon against the Toledo Rockets at Scott Park and managed to hang on for a 5-3 win.

"Games like today are big, when your back's against the wall and you're fighting for your lift to try to get a win," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "It's a testament to our guys and their toughness to be able to stick with it and find a way to get home with at least one win. We're really proud of the effort. From the fifth inning on yesterday through today's game we outplayed them."

NIU (10-18, 6-6 MAC) opened the scoring in the top of the third. Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) led off with a single up the middle, followed by a Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) bunt single. Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) moved the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. JP Gauthier (De Pere, Wis./Illinois State) drove in the first run with a groundout to Charlie Scholvin at shortstop. Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) followed with a double down the left field line to bring home Parcell and make the score 2-0. Colin Summerhill doubled the lead with a two-run home run over the center field fence, his ninth of the season, to put the Huskies up 4-0.

"Two-out scoring opportunities, and being able to cash in on those, create big momentum swings," Copeland said. "Colin's home run with two outs ended up being the game-winning hit. It's good to see him hitting with power. We need him to get going in order for us to be a little bit better offensively."

Starting Pitcher Adam Brouwer (Tinley Park, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) did his part to keep NIU in front, retiring nine of the first 10 batters he faced. Garrett Pike led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run to right field to make the score 4-1. Brouwer then retired the next three Toledo batters to get out of the inning. The Rockets closed the gap to 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth when Scott Mackiewicz hit a leadoff home run. After Pike fouled out to Nelson at third base, Owen Jackson drew a walk and Brayden White knocked a base hit down the right field line to put the tying run on base. Brouwer got out of the inning with a strikeout of Luke Walton and a Caden Konczak groundout.

NIU extended its lead in the top of the seventh. Nelson led off with a walk, getting to second base on a Parcell sacrifice. Demetral then drew a walk to give the Huskies runners at first and second with one out. Toledo went to the bullpen for reliever Kyle Pijaszek, who struck out Gauthier for the second out. Erato then laced a base hit to centerfield to bring home Nelson and make the score 5-2.

Toledo (13-14, 8-4 MAC) nearly tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. The Rockets got their first two batters in the inning on base as Cole Cahill reached on an infield single off of NIU reliever Jackson Stewart (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Area CC), followed by a Trey Wright single. Stewart bounced back to strike out Scholvin and Mackiewicz. Pike loaded the bases with a two-out walk but Stewart got Jackson to ground out to end the inning.

The Rockets got within two at 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth. With two runners on and two out, Wright doubled down the left field line to drive in White. Dominic Hann (Washington, Mich./Michigan State) got Scholvin to line out to CJ Cepicky (St. Louis, Mo./Missouri) to end the inning. Toledo made one last charge at tying the game in the bottom of the ninth. Mackiewicz drew a walk to lead off the inning. Hann struck out Pike then got Jackson to ground out for the second out of the inning. White grounded out to Hann to end the ballgame as the senior locked up his third save of the season.

Saturday's win matches NIU's season total from a year ago, and also surpasses the Huskies' conference win total. Erato was 2-for-5 at the plate with two runs batted in. Parcell also had two hits on the day. Brouwer won his third consecutive start, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings. The redshirt-sophomore struck out four batters while walking only one. In four Mid-American Conference starts Brouwer is 3-0 with a 1.50 earned run average.

"It was just a matter of time before Adam started to have some ball luck and miss some more bats," said Copeland about Brouwer. "He's very into what he does and really understands how to pitch. Ever since we got to MAC play he's been fantastic and kind of a little secret weapon in game three of the series."

The Huskies will play their first home games of the season this week, opening a five-game homestand on Tuesday, April 2 at 3 p.m. against St. Thomas. NIU hosts UIC on Wednesday, April 3 before taking on Bowling Green April 5-7.

"We're excited to be able to sleep in our own beds and get back into a routine," Copeland said. "We're officially halfway through the season and it'll be good to build some momentum on our home field. We have a big week coming up, especially with Bowling Green coming to town who is undefeated in the league."

—NIU—