GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Northern Illinois University baseball team won its season-opening series for the first time since 2018 on Monday afternoon, hanging on for a 6-5 victory at World War Memorial Stadium over the North Carolina A&T Aggies.
"It's really hard to sweep a team that this level so you just try to go win every series you play," said head coach
Ryan Copeland. "Most of the time it comes down to that third game. It's a nice win. It took a lot of guys to get there and we feel good going into East Carolina on Wednesday."
NIU (2-1) broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the sixth.
Vinny Spotofora (Shorewood, Ill./Lake Land College) led off the inning by reaching base on an error. NC A&T pitcher James Van Meter retired the next two Huskies before
Cole Smith (Dubuque, Iowa/Bradley) launched a two-run home run to put NIU ahead 5-3.
Blake Gaskey (Davenport, Iowa/Ohio) retired the side in the bottom of the sixth, striking out Savori Edwards and Boaz Harper to start the inning. He had another 1-2-3 inning in the seventh. Smith delivered another clutch two-out hit in the top of the eighth.
Nolan Sandee (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) stole second and got to third on a throwing error by Aggies catcher Luis Gomez. Smith drove in Sandee with a double to extend the Huskies lead to 6-3.
"We feel really good about Cole up there at the top of the order, behind Charlie [Parcell] and in front of Ivan [Dahlberg]," Copeland said about the NIU second baseman. "He was all over the barrel in these games and he got rewarded with the go-ahead home run and the double as well. Cole's just a gamer and a hard-nosed kid."
That insurance run proved vital in the bottom of the ninth. NC A&T scored two runs on back-to-back singles by Nick DiCarlo and Reginald Tuggle to make the score 6-5.
Nick Bassi (Zionsville, Ind./St. Charles CC) entered the game from the NIU bullpen and hit Marcus Bradshaw with a pitch to load the bases. JT Taylor lined out to
Austin Wiegand (Eureka, Ill./John A. Logan College) in left field for the second out. With the game on the line Bassi got Tyler Smith to ground out to end the ballgame.
NIU put a pair of runs on the board in the first. The Huskies loaded the bases with one out on back-to-back singles from Smith and
Ivan Dahlberg (Minooka, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) and a walk to
Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO).
Will Couchman (Edina, Minn./NIACC) laced a double to right field to bring home Smith and Dahlberg to put the Huskies up 2-0.
Caden Robertson (Magnolia, Texas/Central Oklahoma) extended the lead to 3-0 in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly that scored Dahlberg.
NC A&T (1-2) put two runs on the board in the bottom of the third when Tyler Smith launched a two-run home run over the centerfield fence with two outs. The Aggies tied the game in the fifth on another Smith two-out hit, a double to left field that brought home Marchus Bradshaw and made the score 3-3.
Gaskey earned the win in relief, allowing no hits in 3.2 innings with three strikeouts. Bassi got his first career save by getting the last two outs of the game.
"Blake was really good for us tonight," said Copeland. "We just needed someone to get us deeper into the game and he did that. He threw his fastball down in the zone, threw in a breaking ball for a strike whenever he wanted and kept those guys off balance."
Cole Smith was 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI and was a triple shy of the cycle. Dahlberg and Sandee both had two hits.
NIU is next in action at East Carolina on Wednesday, Feb. 18. First Pitch is at 3 p.m. CT with the game broadcast on ESPN+.
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