BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University baseball team battled the Bowling Green Falcons to a 2-2 tie through seven innings at Steller Field on Saturday afternoon, but the Falcons got a two-run home run from Sam Seidel in the bottom of the eighth to come away with a 4-2 win. The Huskies finish the 2025 season with a 21-33 record, equaling last year's mark.

"While the record's the same, there was some progress made," said head coach Ryan Copeland who wrapped up his second season in the NIU dugout Saturday. "We were better offensively overall. We were better on the mound by over half a run in ERA. I think what we, as a program, have to understand is that in a good conference like the MAC and in Division I baseball overall, the margin of error is just so small. That's something we have to be aware of. We have to find guys that play the game the right way and can do a variety of things well. When they get to campus in August, we have to do a better job as a coaching staff of making sure we can win all types of games."

NIU (21-33, 9-21 MAC) took the lead in the top of the fourth inning. Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) led off with a double to left field. Will Couchman (Edina, Minn./NIACC) moved Baldwin to third with a groundout to Bowling Green first baseman Gavin Ganun. JP Gauthier (De Pere, Wis./Illinois State) drove in Baldwin with another groundout to make the score 1-0.

Carter Cox (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt South) did not allow a hit in the first three innings, striking out five Falcons. Gunner Antillon got Bowling Green's first hit in the bottom of the fourth on a double. Garrett Wright then hit a double of his own to bring in Antillon to score and tie the game 1-1. Cox struck out Zack Horky and Ganun for the first two outs of the inning but walked Brady Birchmeier and Sam Seidel to load the bases. Cooper McKenzie grounded out to NIU shortstop Nolan Sandee (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) to keep the game tied.

The Huskies took back the lead in the top of the fifth. Ryan Birr (Brownsburg, Ind./SIU) hit a two-out single to centerfield, advancing to second base on a Wright error. After Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) was hit by a Kade Arn pitch, Logan Gregorio (Naperville, Ill./Benedictine) laced a single up the middle to drive in Birr and put NIU ahead 2-1.

Bowling Green (33-20, 19-11 MAC) tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Cox retired the first two batters in the inning but Antillon kept it alive with a single down the right field line. Wright then hit a double to right center that scored Antillon all the way from first base to make the score 2-2. The Falcons nearly took the lead in bottom of the sixth inning. Bowling Green had the bases loaded with two outs when NIU reliever Danny Cihocki (Princeton, Ill./Lake Land College) got Garrett Sloan to hit into a fielder's choice to end the threat.

Mason Ruh (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran HS) entered the game in the bottom of the seventh and retired the side in order. He also struck out Ganun to lead off the eighth. Birchmeier then doubled to left center to put the go-ahead run on base for the Falcons. Seidel then hit a home run over the left field wall to give Bowling Green a 4-2 lead.

The Huskies got the tying runs on base in the top of the ninth. Sandee led off with an infield single. Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) then reached on an infield single after a strikeout, giving NIU two runners on base with one out. Bowling Green closer Ty Roder closed the door on the game by getting Birr to ground into a double play.

"Today was another good game and I liked our chances there late," Copeland said. "We had some opportunities to go ahead and plate some more runs, get a lead and unfortunately Seidel got us on one pitch. Even though we got a couple of guys on in the ninth, we couldn't get that extra hit. It was another close game we couldn't find a way to pull out. We fought hard all year and showed a lot of toughness and resilience, but we have a lot of work to do to find ourselves at the top of the MAC standings next year."

Cox struck out eight batters in five innings, allowing just two runs on five hits and two walks. NIU, as a team, struck out 12 batters on the day. It was the Huskies' 16th game this season with double-digit strikeouts on the mound. The NIU pitching staff finished the year with a single-season record 450 strikeouts, passing the previous mark of 432 set in 2018.

"When we started the recruiting process, we wanted to get pitchers that would strike more batters out," said Copeland. "With the way college baseball has shifted to more of a power game, if you can't miss bats you're not going to have much of a chance. When we did pitch well, it's no coincidence that we tended to have double digit strikeouts."

NIU set four other single-season records in 2025 on offense. The Huskies finished the year with school records of 82 home runs, 259 walks, 382 RBI and 416 runs scored. NIU set single-game records with 27 runs and 17 walks in its 27-11 win at Northwestern on April 15.

—NIU—