DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team saw it's four-game winning streak snapped on Friday afternoon as the Bowling Green Falcons scored three runs in the top of the eighth to rally for a 5-4 victory at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt & Janice Owens Park.
 
"It feels like we let one slip away today," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "We were up 4-2 going into the eighth and had to win the game. It's disappointing. We did a really good job against their starter [Ethan Stade] who's really tough to hit, but we left too many guys on base."
 
Sophomore shortstop Nolan Sandee (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) led NIU with three hits on the day. Marcus Romero (Brighton, Colo./South Mountain College) and Cole Smith (Dubuque, Iowa/Bradley) each had two hits with Romero stealing two bases.
 
Bowling Green (8-15, 4-6 MAC) got on the board first in the top of the second. Andrew DiLodovico led off with a double to left center then scored on an Anthony Mitta double to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead. After a Lance Vickers flyout advanced Mitta to third, an error on a groundball off the bat of Brayden Curlis scored Mitta to make the score 2-0. Danny Cihocki (Princeton, Ill./Lake Land College) got the final two outs of the inning on groundouts to end the threat, then stranded a runner on second in the third inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
 
NIU (14-8, 6-4 MAC) put a run on the board in the bottom of the third. Sandee led off with a double, then scored on a one-out Smith single to make the score 2-1. The Huskies loaded the bases on a Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) hit by pitch and an Ivan Dahlberg (Minooka, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) walk with two outs. BG starting pitcher Ethan Stade left the bases loaded by getting a flyout to end the frame.
 
After allowing the two Falcons runs in the second, Cihocki retired 14 of the next 16 batters he faced. NIU gave him the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Romero led off with a single to centerfield and stole second base. Vinny Spotofora (Shorewood, Ill./Lake Land College) drove him in with a base hit to center to tie the game 2-2 and chase Stade from the game.  
 
"Marcus runs as well as anybody you'll see out here," Copeland said. "We were trying to put some pressure on their defense, make something happen. When you can't get that big hit it feels really hard to score so we had to be creative there."
After a strikeout, Sandee hit a single to right field. A two-out walk to Smith loaded the bases for Caden Robertson (Magnolia, Texas/Central Oklahoma). Falcons reliever Carrson Sova hit Robertson with a pitch to drive in Spotofora and give NIU a 3-2 lead. The Huskies tacked on another run in the bottom of the seventh as a Wyatt Wawro (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) base hit scored Romero to put the score at 4-2.
 
The Falcons started their rally with free passes to Zack Horky and Sam Seidel. A sacrifice bunt by Carter Mottice moved the two runners into scoring position. TJ Takats tied the game 4-4 with a bases-clearing double to right center. DiLodovico gave BG a 5-4 lead with his second double of the game, scoring Takats. The Huskies had the tying and winning runs on base in the ninth after Dahlberg was hit by a pitch and Wawro drew a two-out walk. Bowling Green's Titus Lotz got a strikeout to end the game and give the Falcons the come-from-behind win.
 
NIU left 14 runners on base to Bowling Green's six. Cihocki allowed just two runs on four hits in seven innings on the mound. He didn't allow a walk while striking out six Falcons. Stade allowed three runs in five innings for the Falcons with seven hits allowed, two walks and eight strikeouts.
 
The two teams play the middle game of this weekend's series on Saturday, March 28 at 2 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear black for the Blackout game. Victor E. Threads is offering a 10 percent discount on black apparel for the day.
 
--NIU--