DeKALB, IL – Freshman catcher
Cooper Cohn's (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) fourth home run of the season was a game-winner Tuesday afternoon as the Northern Illinois University baseball team walked off the Valparaiso Beacons 10-9 at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park.
"We have a long way to go, but we showed some resiliency and toughness today," said head coach
Ryan Copeland. "I'm proud of our guys to be able to bounce back after a tough loss Sunday."
Valpo (12-26) led 9-7 going into the bottom of the eighth inning.
Mason Kelley (Mt. Washington, Ky./Schoolcraft College) led off the inning with a home run over the left centerfield wall to get the Huskies within a run. After a strikeout,
Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) was hit by a pitch from Beacons reliever Jake Jakubowski. A popout brought
Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) with two outs. Erato drew a walk to bring
Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) to the plate. A wild pitch advanced Demetral and Erato one base. Summerhill drew a walk, with ball four going to the backstop allowing Demetral to score and tie the game 9-9.
NIU (13-26) went to
Ty Brachbill (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) out of the bullpen for the top of the ninth. The freshman allowed a two-out double to Kevin Denty but struck out Brady Renfro to keep the game tied going to the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Cohn cracked the game-winning home run over the left field fence to give NIU the 10-9 victory.
"It felt good," said Cohn about his walk-off blast. "I was just looking for a fastball, something to get the barrel on. When the wind is at your pull side and the ball is carrying, you get a little more confidence at the plate to go get the pitch you want. That's a huge one for us going into tomorrow at UIC and Central Michigan over the weekend."
Tuesday's game started as a pitcher's duel between NIU's
Ryan Linkletter (McHenry, Ill./Iowa Central CC) and Valpo's Bryce Konitzer. Each starter allowed just one hit in the first three innings as the game got to the fourth scoreless. The Huskies put the first runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Erato led off with an infield single, his second hit of the game and the 200
th of his career. Summerhill followed with a triple to the right field corner, scoring Erato to put NIU up 1-0.
CJ Cepicky (St. Louis, Mo./Missouri) followed with a double to left center to drive in Summerhill and make the score 2-0. Cepicky later scored in the inning on a wild pitch to put the Huskies up 3-0.
The Beacons got on the board in the top of the fifth on a two-out RBI single from Renfro. NIU got that run back in the bottom of the sixth on a Cohn run-scoring single that made the score 4-1. Valpo took the lead in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs on four hits to go up 5-4. Summerhill put the Huskies back in front in the bottom half of the inning with a three-run home run, his 18
th of the season, to give NIU a 7-4 advantage.
"It was two different games when you look at the scoreboard," Copeland said. "We got a really good start from Ryan [Linkletter], and we needed it with the double midweek. He gets us through five and it felt like it was going to be a low-scoring win with the way the game was going. It's completely different at the back half. Our offense picked us up again and traded punches and, luckily, we landed the last one. It's a really good win."
Linkletter threw a career-high five innings in his first career start, striking out five while allowing just one run on four hits. Cohn and Erato each had three hits in the ballgame. Summerhill was 2-for-4 with four RBI.
Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) had a hit in his 12
th consecutive game with a double in the seventh inning.
NIU takes on another Missouri Valley Conference opponent on Wednesday night, April 24, when the Huskies head to UIC for a 6 p.m. game.
--NIU--
