ATHENS, Ohio - Junior designated hitter
Caden Robertson (Magnolia, Texas/Central Oklahoma) drove in four runs on Friday but the Northern Illinois University baseball team could not overcome the Ohio Bobcats' six-run sixth inning in a 14-7 loss at Bob Wren Stadium in the Mid-American Conference opener.
"We haven't played well on Friday the last few weeks," said head coach
Ryan Copeland. "It's unacceptable and it's my job to figure that out. We have a tough team and I have zero doubt we'll be ready to play better baseball tomorrow."
NIU (7-5, 0-1 MAC) got on the board first in the third inning.
Cole Smith (Dubuque, Iowa/Bradley) drew a walk with one out. After a flyout for the second out,
Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) launched a home run over the centerfield fence to put the Huskies up 2-0.
Marcus Romero (Brighton, Colo./South Mountain College) followed with a single up the middle to keep the inning alive.
Wyatt Wawro (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) then drew a walk, which led to Ohio starting pitcher Luke Bryant being replaced by reliever Mason Gass. Robertson welcomed Gass to the game by ripping a double to the left field corner, scoring both Romero and Wawro to double the Huskies' lead to 4-0.
Will Couchman (Edina, Minn./NIACC) then hit a single to right center to bring home Robertson and make the score 5-0.
Ohio (3-11, 1-0 MAC) responded in the bottom of the third. Max Palinski led off with a double, scoring on a Cam Hill single.
Carter Cox (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt South) struck out Reese Harmon and Tyler Stack for the first two outs. Cameron Boyd then hit a home run over the left field fence to make the score 5-3. Cam Bryant followed with a double to left. Will Henson drove him in with a double to get the Bobcats within a run at 5-4. Cox got Dylan Shepherd to fly out to end the inning.
The Bobcats took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Henson led off with a single to left field. Shepherd then hit a home run over the right field wall to give Ohio a 6-5 lead. Ohio put four more runs on the board, with a Shepherd hit by pitch with the bases loaded capping a six-run inning that put the Bobcats up 10-5.
"It's a disappointing start to conference play," Copeland said. "We put up the five spot in the third inning and give it right back to them. We didn't play well defensively, which has been a strength. We didn't pitch well and we didn't make enough adjustments at the plate."
Robertson put NIU's last two runs on the board in the top of the eighth with a two-run home run, his fourth of the season, which made the score 12-7.
Boyd had four RBI for Ohio, going 2-for-4 with a home run. Hill had three hits and scored three runs. Gass earned the win in relief for Ohio, allowing two runs in 4.1 innings on two hits with six strikeouts.
Due to inclement weather in the forecast, Saturday's game has been moved up to 9:30 a.m. CT.
—NIU—
