TOLEDO, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University baseball team broke a 1-1 tie with a five-run fourth inning on its way to an 8-3 win over the Toledo Rockets at Scott Park on Saturday.

"We knew we needed a rebound and that started with a much better outing on the mound, just to give us a chance to let the game settle in," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "They got one off Max [Vaisvila] in the first, but he just did a great job again of keeping them off balance, inducing some weak contact. It all starts on the mound and we got a great start and the bullpen was good enough. The five spot there sealed the deal."

The Huskies had eight hits in the game and drew nine walks. Caden Robertson (Magnolia, Texas/Central Oklahoma) and Cole Smith (Dubuque, Iowa/Bradley) both had two runs batted in in the victory. Robertson also had a home run for the sixth straight game. Max Vaisvila (Villa Park, Ill./Wabash Valley College) won his third consecutive start, allowing two runs on six hits in a season-high seven innings.

Toledo (8-9, 4-1 MAC) went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. Calvin Scholvin drew a walk with one out, then advanced to second base on an Alex McCranie single. Troy Sudbrook laced a single to left center to bring home Scholvin and put the Rockets up 1-0. The Huskies tied the game in the top of the third. Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) reached on an error leading off the frame. Will Couchman (Edina, Minn./NIACC) and Owen Ross (Yorkville, Ill./USC Upstate) hit back-to-back singles to load the bases. Smith hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Cohn and make the score 1-1.

NIU (10-6, 3-2 MAC) broke the game open in the top of the fourth. Marcus Romero (Brighton, Colo./South Mountain College) and Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Cohn brought home Romero from second with an RBI base hit that gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead. Couchman then drew a walk to load the bases. After a flyout, a Smith single to left field scored Parcell and Cohn to extend the NIU lead to 4-1. Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) then hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Couchman and put the Huskies ahead 5-1. An error by the left fielder Saborn Campbell allowed Smith to get to third. Ivan Dahlberg (Minooka, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) drove in Smith with a single to left field to put NIU up 6-1.

"We just did a good job of moving the ball, playing the game in front of us and making sure we added a couple of runs once we took the lead," Copeland said. "Anytime you're facing a good starting pitcher you have to get them on the ropes and you have to find a way, because you just never know when they're going to settle in. If you're going to beat a team like Toledo that's well coached, play good defense and really pitch, you're going to have to win a close game. To come out of there with five runs was a good thing for us."

Vaisvila rode the momentum from the five-run outburst in the top half of the fourth, retiring the Rockets in order in the bottom of the inning. Toledo cut the NIU lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the fifth on a McCranie double that scored Scholvin from first base. That was the last hit Vaisvila allowed on the day. The senior lefty retired the last eight Toledo batters he faced to get NIU to the eighth inning with a 6-2 lead.

"Max has been phenomenal and I feel really good with him out there on the mound. His stuff has been a little bit better than it was last year. He's commanding his fastball a little more and he's been much tougher to hit. When we get good starts we're really tough to beat."

The Rockets got one run closer in the eighth on a two-out RBI single from pinch-hitter Cole Cahill that made the score 6-3. NIU got some insurance in the top of the ninth. Dahlberg drew his second walk of the game with one out in the top of the ninth. Robertson then launched a home run over the left field fence to extend the NIU lead to 8-3. Matt Tarr (North Aurora, Ill./Purdue) made that lead hold up, getting the final three outs in the bottom of the ninth to secure NIU's 10th victory of the year.

Tarr earned his second save of the season, going 1.1 innings with no hits, two walks and a strikeout. McCranie was 3-for-5 at the plate for Toledo with an RBI and a run scored. Toledo starting pitcher Deron Swanson allowed five earned runs on seven hits in five innings.

NIU and Toledo wrap up this weekend's series on Sunday, March 15 at 12 p.m.

—NIU—