MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University baseball team earned its first win at Central Michigan since 2017 on Friday afternoon, winning its series opener at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium 2-1 behind a complete game from freshman pitcher Ty Brachbill (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville).
 
"Today's game had a playoff feel with two desperate teams fighting to stay alive for postseason play and two really good arms on the mound there," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "Ty was as good as it gets. He got better as the game went on. It's a really good win on a Friday and what it's supposed to feel like when you playing baseball at a high level."
 
NIU (14-27, 8-11 MAC) and Central Michigan were tied 1-1 going to the eighth inning. Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) led it off with a single to left center. He advanced to second on a Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) sacrifice bunt. With one out Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) moved Demetral to third with a groundout to Drew Loikits at second base. Chippewas reliever Bryce Hellgeth then intentionally walked Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) to bring CJ Cepicky (St. Louis, Mo./Missouri) to the plate. The NIU leftfielder ripped a single through the left side of the infield to drive in Demetral and make the score 2-1. The Huskies loaded the bases on a Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) walk but Hellgeth got out of the inning with a groundout.
 
"In a close game like this, someone has to step up and get the big hit," Copeland said. "We hadn't done it up until that point. CJ got a pitch up in the zone and was all over the barrel with it. He's cemented himself as an everyday player. We've always known the talent is there and he came up with the big hit after Summerhill got walked."
 
Brachbill retired the side in the bottom of the eighth to keep NIU up 2-1. Central Michigan (14-28, 5-14 MAC) got the game-tying and go-ahead runs on base in the bottom of the ninth on a Marquis Jackson walk and a Loikits single. Sandyn Cuthrell moved the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Brachbill got Elijah Henning to lineout to Demetral and shortstop for the second out, then struck out Nick Dardas to finish off the complete game victory.
 
"Ty's always been good at holding velocity and his stuff seems to be very similar early in the game as it is late," Copeland said. "He found an extra gear in that ninth inning when they got the two guys on. I just felt that, on a Friday in a conference series, it was his game to win or lose. He deserved the opportunity to be out there and, fortunately, was able to finish it off with a strikeout."
 
The Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Cohn led off with a base hit, followed by another base hit from Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) that got Cohn to third. A double play ball allowed Cohn to score the first run of the game. Brachbill retired nine of the first 10 Chippewas batters he faced in the game. Central Michigan had two runners on base in the bottom of the fourth when Brachbill got Drew Prout to ground out to Nelson at third to keep CMU off the board. Brachbill left another runner in scoring position on base in the fifth with a groundout by Drew Wuestenfeld. CMU tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a Dardas RBI groundout.
 
Brachbill is the first Huskie freshman to throw a complete game since Michael Lasiewicz when the distance in a 2-1 win over Miami on April 21, 2018. It's also the first complete game by any NIU pitcher since Lasiewicz's shutout of Miami in the 2019 Mid-American Conference Championship. Brachbill had six strikeouts while allowing just four hits and three walks on 119 pitches.
 
The Huskies and Chippewas play game two of this weekend's series on Saturday, April 27 at 12 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--