AKRON, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University baseball team outscored the Akron Zips 5-2 in the final four innings Saturday morning for an 8-6 victory at Skeeles Field.
Senior designated hitter
Caden Robertson (Magnolia, Texas/Central Oklahoma) was 3-for-5 with two home runs, three runs batted in and three runs scored. It was his second multi-home run game of the season. He now leads the Mid-American Conference with 13 home runs this season.
"That's what Caden does best," said head coach
Ryan Copeland. "His first home run was pull side on a breaking ball with two strikes, and then he hit a backside home run on a fastball into the wind. It's just as impressive as it gets. He truly has power to all fields."
Nolan Sandee (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) and
Vinny Spotofora (Shorewood, Ill./Lake Land College) both had two hits and combined for three RBI. The Huskies have now won three in a row and eight of their last 11 games.
NIU (22-11, 14-6 MAC) trailed 4-3 going into the sixth when a
Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) RBI groundout scored
Ivan Dahlberg (Minooka, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) and tied the game.
Danny Cihocki (Princeton, Ill./Lake Land College) then got the Huskies right back to bat by retiring the Akron side in the bottom of the inning, striking out Blake Bowen and Easton Amundson.
The Huskies took the lead with a two-out rally in the top of the seventh. It started with a
Wyatt Wawro (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) walk. Robertson then hammered a home run over the left field wall to give NIU a 6-4 advantage.
Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) drew a walk to keep the inning going, followed by Dahlberg being hit by a Jeremiah Newman pitch. Sandee then laced a single through the right side to bring home Baldwin and give the Huskies a 7-4 lead.
Akron (16-22, 6-13 MAC) closed within a run in the bottom of the eighth. The Zips loaded the bases on back-to-back walks to Brody Chrisman and Brennan Morgan, along with a Bowen single. Amundson hit a single to center to score Chrisman. Mitchel Szymczak then hit a sacrifice fly to bring around Morgan to score, making the score 7-6. NIU reliever
Blake Gaskey (Davenport, Iowa/Ohio) kept the tying run from scoring by getting a fielder's choice and a groundout to end the inning. Robertson gave NIU an insurance run with a lead-off home run in the ninth to put the Huskies ahead 8-6. Gaskey then retired the side in the bottom of the ninth for his second save of the year and NIU's second win on the weekend.
"These have been two tough games and we got the win in both," Copeland said. "We expect more of the same tomorrow. Akron's a pretty gritty group. They're going to fight and claw and they've been in every game they play every weekend."
The game started as a pitcher's duel between Cihocki and Akron's Brady Bowen. Both starters did not allow a hit in the first two innings. Spotofora got the first hit of the game in the top of the third and made it count. With one away in the inning, Spotofora cracked his first home run of the season over the right field wall to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
NIU extended its lead in the top of the fourth. Robertson laced a single through the left side followed by a Baldwin double. Dahlberg drew a walk to load the bases. Sandee also drew a walk that scored Robertson and put the Huskies ahead 2-0. A Cohn sacrifice fly brought home Baldwin and made the score 3-0.
Akron got its first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth when Morgan singled to centerfield after a Chrisman walk. Blake Bowen then laced a double down the right field line, scoring Chrisman to put the Zips on the board 3-1. Amundson put Akron in front with a three-run home run to right field, making the score 4-3.
Cihocki went seven innings to earn his first win since March 7 at Ohio. He allowed four runs on four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. It was his seventh start this season with at least five punchouts.
This weekend's series wraps up on Sunday, April 19 at 11 a.m. CT.
—NIU—
