ATHENS, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University baseball team got a stellar start from pitcher Max Vaisvila (Villa Park, Ill./Wabash Valley College) and a home run from Caden Robertson (Magnolia, Texas/Central Oklahoma) for the fourth straight game as the Huskies defeated the Ohio Bobcats 8-2 Sunday afternoon at Bob Wren Stadium.

Vaisvila allowed one run on three hits over six innings on Sunday. He struck out eight Bobcat batters, one shy of his season-high of nine. Robertson was 1-for-5 with a three-run home run, his fifth long ball in the last four games. The senior designated hitter was 7-for-16 at the plate this weekend with four home runs, a double, a triple and 11 runs batted in. He also scored seven runs as NIU outscored Ohio 28-17 in the three games.

"Caden is such a dangerous hitter," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "There is so much room for him to get better and become a complete hitter. He's got incredible power to all fields and it seems like when he gets one he doesn't miss it."

NIU (9-5, 2-1 MAC) manufactured the first run of the game in the top of the first. Cole Smith (Dubuque, Iowa/Bradley) led off with a walk then got to second base on a Wyatt Wawro (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) single. Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) advanced the runners with a groundout to the pitcher AJ Dallmayer. Ivan Dahlberg (Minooka, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) drove in Smith with a groundout to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

Ohio tied the game in the bottom of the second when a Cam Bryant leadoff home run made the score 1-1. Vaisvila bounced back with a pair of groundouts and a strikeout to get out of the inning. He retired the side in the third and fourth innings, picking off Cam Bryant for the final out of the fourth after hitting him with a pitch.

The Huskies took back the lead with two outs in the fifth. Baldwin laced a single to left center followed by a Dahlberg base hit. Robertson then crushed a home run over the left field fence to give NIU a 4-1 lead. NIU score two more two-out runs in the sixth. With a runner at second and two away, Ohio reliever Hunter Winston walked both Smith and Wawro to load the bases. Baldwin then hit a groundball to the second baseman Will Henson who bobbled it, allowing Spotofora to score and give the Huskies a 5-1 lead. Dahlberg drew a walk to bring home Smith and move the score to 6-1.

"Those runs can be big momentum swingers," Copeland said. "When an opponent is close to getting out of an inning and you throw a punch and drive it around, it could demoralize a team, and at the same time lift up your dugout's energy."

Nolan Sandee (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) extended the NIU lead to 7-1 in the top of the seventh with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly. Ohio got a two-out solo home run from Reese Harmon in the eighth to make the score 7-2, but the Huskies got that run back in the top of the ninth on a Vinny Spotofora (Shorewood, Ill./Lake Land College) RBI single. Josh Loren (North Liberty, Iowa/Kirkwood CC) struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to lock up the win and the series.

Five of the Huskies' eight runs on Sunday came with two outs. Baldwin and Marcus Romero (Brighton, Colo./South Mountain College) both had two hits, including a double, in the game. NIU had 10 hits and drew eight walks.

NIU wraps up it's stretch of 17 road games to start the season at Toledo March 13-15.

—NIU—