DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team won its first series over the Kent State Golden Flashes in DeKalb since 2009 on Sunday afternoon, winning 5-2 at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt & Janice Owens Park.
 
"This is a great series win for our program," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "We had some guys step in and step up today. I'm really proud of our guys and their fight and resilience. These were three really well-played baseball games. Kent State is the gold standard of this conference and after a few pitches on Friday we knew we belonged. I'm happy for our guys that they get to celebrate a series win like this."
 
NIU (20-11, 12-6 MAC) has won five of its first six Mid-American Conference series to start the year. Carter Cox (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt South) and Blake Gaskey (Davenport, Iowa/Ohio) combined to hold the Golden Flashes to two runs on six hits in Sunday's series finale. Cox won his second straight start, going seven innings. He allowed two runs on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Gaskey got his first save of the season, throwing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
 
"Carter has seen a lot of progression in last two starts," Copeland said. "He's the ultimate competitor. He threw seven strong innings today. We feel really good about him getting the ball on Sundays."
 
Cox picked off a runner at first base to end the top of the first, then struck out the side in order in the second. Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) drew a walk off of Kent State starting pitcher Ben Rabatin to start the bottom of the second. Ivan Dahlberg (Minooka, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) followed with a single to left field. Wyatt Wawro (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) drove in Baldwin with a base hit down the left field line to give NIU a 1-0 lead. Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) loaded the bases with a bunt single, and after a strikeout Kayden Jennings (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) was hit by a pitch to bring Dahlberg in to score the Huskies' second run. Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) put NIU up 3-0 with a single to right field, scoring Wawro.
 
Kent State (25-9, 13-5 MAC) got on the board in the top of the third. With runners at the corners and no outs Luke Matthews put down a sacrifice bunt to score Nolan Belcher from third base to make the score 3-1. Brady Marshall brought in Grady Mee with a single to right center to get the Golden Flashes within a run at 3-2. Cox held Kent State there, getting a groundout and strikeout to end the inning.
 
The Huskies got those two runs back in the bottom of the fourth. Jennings and Parcell hit back-to-back singles to start the frame. Cole Smith (Dubuque, Iowa/Bradley) laced a single up the middle to drive in Jennings and put NIU ahead 4-2. Rabatin got back-to-back lineouts for the first two outs but walked Dahlberg to load the bases, then walked Wawro to bring home Parcell and give NIU a 5-2 lead.
 
Cox did his part to keep the Huskies in front. The sophomore retired the side in both the fifth and sixth innings, then stranded a runner at third base in the seventh. Gaskey entered the game in the top of the eighth. The Golden Flashes got a walk and a two-out single from Micah Kiracofe, but Gaskey struck out Sawyer Solitaria to get out of the inning.
 
Kent State attempted one last rally in the ninth. The first two Golden Flashes reached base as Brody Willams hit an infield single and Kolton Schaller drew a walk. Gaskey struck out Belcher for the first out but hit Mee with a pitch to load the bases. He struck out Matthews for the second out and got Marshall to hit into a fielder's choice to end the game.
 
"That was a huge team win for us and the program," Cox said. "We're putting it all together at the right time. I've been getting back in my groove. I was landing all my pitches for strikes."
 
Smith extended his current hitting streak to eight games on Sunday, going 2-for-5 with an RBI. The senior infielder has 10 multi-hit games out of his last 14. Parcell also had two hits on Sunday to go with an RBI, a walk and a stolen base. The junior centerfielder was 6-for-13 at the plate in the weekend's series with four runs scored and four stolen bases.
 
NIU starts a stretch of five consecutive games on the road on Tuesday, April 14 at Illinois State. First pitch is at 5 p.m.
 
--NIU--