OXFORD, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University baseball team led in both games of Friday's doubleheader against the Miami RedHawks at McKie Field, but the RedHawks swept the day winning by scores of 9-2 and 6-5.
 
"It was a tough day, but I thought we played well," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "We played good baseball at times, especially in game two, but we were not able to finish it off and that was disappointing."
 
Ty Brachbill (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) got out of an early jam to start game two. Miami loaded the bases on an error, a hit by pitch and a walk with one out. The sophomore starting pitcher then struck out David Novak and got Ryan Novak to fly out to Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) in centerfield to end the inning.
 
NIU (7-9, 1-4 MAC) took the lead in the top of the second. Andrew Smart (Evanston, Ill./Oakton CC) was hit by a Troy Benko pitch with one out. Parcell then hit a groundball off the mitt of first baseman Evan Applewick at first base to the second baseman Buzzeo who threw to first for the out. Smart got to third on the groundout and scored on a Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) single to left that put the Huskies up 1-0. JP Gauthier (De Pere, Ill./Illinois State) then launched his first home run of the season over the left field fence to give NIU a 3-0 lead.
 
"JP has done a good job of being patient and taking advantage of his opportunities," Copeland said. "That home run was big for us early and really good to see."
 
Miami (9-9, 4-1 MAC) got a run back in the bottom half of the second as Dominic Krupinski hit a leadoff home run to right field. Brachbill then retired nine of the next 10 batters he faced to keep the score 3-1 going into the fifth. NIU had a chance to extend its lead in the top of the fifth. Cohn and Gauthier hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Miami reliever Carson Byers got a strikeout for the first out, with a groundout by Loyd moving the runners into scoring position with two away. Byers then got another groundout to end the threat.
 
Brachbill retired the side with a pair of strikeouts in the fifth before Ty Batusich led off the Miami sixth with a base hit. He got to second on an Applewick groundout, but was left in scoring position after Brachbill got a pair of flyouts to end the inning.
"Ty was outstanding today," said Copeland on Brachbill's start. "He competed with three pitches and did a really good job of pitching backwards when he needed to sustain velocity. We talk a lot in our program about our young guys having to grow up and get better and better and Ty has done that so far this year."
 
The Huskies put another run on the board in the top of the seventh. Parcell led off with a bunt single, getting to third on a one-out base hit from Gauthier. Nolan Sandee (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) brought Parcell around to score on a groundout to Blake Buzzeo at second base, making the score 4-1. NIU added another run in the eighth as Parcell drove in CJ Cepicky (St. Louis, Mo./Missouri) with a two-out double to put the Huskies up 5-1.
 
Miami rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. With runners at first and second and no outs, David Novak hit a double to score a run to make it 5-2. NIU went to the bullpen for Zach Hise (Joliet, Ill./Kentucky). Ryan Novak followed with a three-run home run over the left field fence to tie the game 5-5. Hise struck out Krupinski before Mason Ruh (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran HS) came in and got the final two outs of the inning.
 
Landon Fulk entered the game from the Miami bullpen in the top of the ninth and retired the Huskies in order. Dillon Baker led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off home run to give the RedHawks the 6-5 win and a sweep of the doubleheader.
 
Brachbill allowed one run on three hits in game two, striking out five Miami batters for a no-decision. Parcell, Cohn and Gauthier combined for seven of NIU's eight hits in the nightcap. Gauthier was 3-for-4 with two RBI as Cohn and Parcell both had two hits and an RBI.
 
NIU scored first in the opener. With two outs in the top of the first, junior first baseman Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) drove in Cepicky from second base with a single to centerfield to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Kaden Kosobucki (West De Pere, Wis./West De Pere) made the score 2-0 in the second, bringing Ben Loyd (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kaskaskia College) around to score with a two-out single to left field.
 
Miami took the lead in the bottom of the second. With two runners on base and two outs Buzzeo drove in Applewick with a single to make the score 2-1. Baker followed with an RBI single of his own to tie the game. Anthony Zarlingo then cleared the bases with a two-run single to give the RedHawks a 4-2 lead. Applewick extended the Miami lead in the third with a solo home run, making the score 5-2.
 
The Huskies were held without a hit by Miami pitchers Hayden Cuthbertsen and Cooper Katskee over the next seven innings, drawing two walks in that span.  The RedHawks added a run in the fifth and two in the seventh to win game one 9-2. Katskee had seven strikeouts in the final six innings, allowing one walk. Adam Brouwer (Tinley Park, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) had seven strikeouts in five innings, allowing seven runs on 10 hits.
 
Baldwin was 1-for-2 with two walks in the opener. Kosobucki, Cepicky and Loyd each went 1-for-4 at the plate.
 
NIU and Miami will wrap up this weekend's series on Sunday, March 16 at 12 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--