ATHENS, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University baseball team had 10 extra base hits, including four home runs, on Saturday morning as the Huskies defeated the Ohio Bobcats 13-1 at Bob Wren Stadium to set up a rubber game in the opening series of Mid-American Conference play on Sunday.

Junior designated hitter Caden Robertson (Magnolia, Texas/Central Oklahoma) drove in four runs for the third straight game. He was 4-for-6 with two home runs and a triple, scoring four runs. Over the last three games Robertson is 8-for-15 with four home runs, 12 RBI and eight runs scored.

"It's fun to watch Caden do his thing," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "He's stuck with the process and put the work in and he's being rewarded. We brought him in to be an impact hitter in the middle of the order and he has certainly lived up to the hype."

NIU (8-5, 1-1 MAC) opened the scoring in the top of the second when freshman Wyatt Wawro (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) led off with his first career home run. The Huskies tacked on three runs in the top of the third. Cole Smith (Dubuque, Iowa/Bradley) led off with a walk and got to second base on a wild pitch. After an Ivan Dahlberg (Minooka, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) groundout advanced Smith to third, Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) drove in Smith with a base hit through the left side of the infield to make the score 2-0. Robertson followed with a two-run home run to make the score 4-0.

Junior pitcher Danny Cihocki (Princeton, Ill./Lake Land College) did his part on the mound to keep NIU in the lead. Cihocki allowed just two Ohio hits in the first four innings, striking out five batters. The Huskies scored twice in the fifth to go up 6-0. Robertson led off with a triple and scored on a Wawro double. Vinny Spotofora (Shorewood, Ill./Lake Land College) brought Wawro around to score on a double of his own.

Ohio (3-12, 1-1 MAC) scored its lone run of the game in the bottom of the fifth as Cam Hill laced a single through the left side to score Dylan Shepherd and make the score 6-1. Cihocki allowed just one walk in his final three innings of work, finishing the game with eight strikeouts in a career-high eight innings.

"Danny was excellent again today," Copeland said. "He has come a long way since last year. He has good stuff and when he's in the zone with three pitches, he can beat any team."

The Huskies scored seven runs in the final three innings, capped by a three-run top of the ninth. Smith hit his third home run of the season to make the score 11-1. Baldwin then hit a single, followed by Robertson's second home run of the game that made the score 13-1.

"We have focused on resiliency with this group a lot," added Copeland. "Yesterday was a tough day, but so far this season we have shown the ability to bounce back with a strong effort."

Smith reached base five times on Saturday, going 3-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and two runs scored. Baldwin also had three hits in the game and scored three times. Six of the nine hitters in the NIU lineup had multiple hits in the game.

This weekend's series wraps up on Sunday, March 8 at 12 p.m. CT.

—NIU—