ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Northern Illinois University baseball team swept its doubleheader against the Lindenwood Lions on Saturday, winning by scores of 3-2 and 5-1 at Lou Brock Sports Complex.
"Today was a really good response to a lousy day yesterday," said head coach
Ryan Copeland. "We challenged the guys after the game to be better and I told them that I knew they'd respond and we did. We played great defense like we always do, did enough offensively and pitched much better out of our bullpen to give us a chance to win another series Sunday."
NIU (6-4) scored first in the nightcap.
Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) hit a triple to right center with one out.
Cole Smith (Dubuque, Iowa/Bradley) drove in Parcell with a double to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Starting Pitcher
Max Vaisvila (Villa Park, Ill./Wabash Valley College) stranded four runners on base in the first three innings. Lindenwood tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out RBI single from Cade Martinez.
The Huskies broke the game open in the top of the fifth.
Connor Mendell (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt South) led off by reaching base on an error. Parcell then hit a double to left center to give NIU two runners in scoring position. Smith hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Mendell and put the Huskies up 2-1, advancing Parcell to third.
Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) followed with a sacrifice fly of his own to score Parcell and make the score 3-1.
Ivan Dahlberg (Minooka, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) kept the inning alive with a double.
Marcus Romero (Brighton, Colo./South Mountain College) then hit a two-run inside-the-park home run to give NIU a 5-1 lead.
NIU's pitching held down the Lions from there. Vaisvila struck out five Lindenwood batters in six innings, allowing one run on seven hits.
Josh Loren (North Liberty, Ohio/Kirkwood CC) threw 1.1 innings of scoreless relief before passing the ball to
Matt Tarr (North Aurora, Ill./Purdue) who got the final five outs of the game all on strikeouts to lock up the doubleheader sweep with a 5-1 victory.
Lindenwood (5-6) got on the board first in the opener. Ethan Cantareira led off the bottom of a third with a home run over the right field fence to put the Lions up 1-0. NIU starting pitcher
Danny Cihocki (Princeton, Ill./Lake Land College) did not allow a hit for the rest of his outing, stranding three Lions who reached on walks to go six innings allowing one run.
The Huskies took the lead in the top of the eighth.
Nolan Sandee (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) led off with a single off of Lindenwood reliever Easton Rakers, getting to second base on a passed ball. Smith laced a double down the left field line to score Sandee and tie the game 1-1. After a groundout advanced Smith to third, Baldwin hit a double to score the NIU second baseman and put the Huskies in front 2-1.
NIU tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth when
Vinny Spotofora (Shorewood, Ill./Lake Land College) drove in
Wyatt Wawro (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) from second base with a single to centerfield, making the score 3-1. Lindenwood got within a run in the bottom of the ninth when a two-out Jake Radosevich base hit scored Kam Edwards.
Blake Gaskey (Davenport, Iowa/Ohio) got the final out on a groundout for the 3-2 NIU win.
Gaskey and Cihocki combined to allow two runs on four hits in game one with seven strikeouts. Parcell was 3-for-5 in game two with two runs scored. Smith was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in game one, then added two more RBI in the nightcap. He has had a hit in eight of the first 10 games this season.
"We knew when we got to the summer that Cole was a guy we needed to have to provide some balance and stability in our lineup," Copeland said. "He gives us quality at-bat after quality at-bat. He puts the ball in play and is a really tough out. With the game on the line, I don't know that there's anyone better that we want up at the plate."
NIU and Lindenwood wrap up their weekend series on Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m.
--NIU--
