DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team scored its second-most runs in a game this season on Friday afternoon, putting 15 on the board in a 15-9 win over against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt & Janice Owens Park.
 
"Our offense was outstanding today," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "That was Eastern's best guy on the mound and we got him out of there after the first inning. We saw the cumulative effect of the relentlessness of our bats against their bullpen. Putting up 15 runs on a Friday in the MAC is impressive."
 
NIU (24-12, 15-7 MAC) had 16 hits in the game and drew seven walks. Five different Huskies had at least two hits in the game, led by senior Caden Robertson (Magnolia, Texas/Central Oklahoma) who was 3-for-5 at the plate with a home run and five runs batted in. Will Couchman (Edina, Minn./NIACC) also had a home run and three RBI as part of his 2-for-5 day. Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) and Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) were both 2-for-4 with two RBI.
 
Eastern Michigan 12-27, 6-16 MAC) got on the board first Friday with a Ty Steck two-run home run in the top of the first inning, giving the Eagles an early lead. NIU responded by getting its first five batters on base in the bottom of the first. Wyatt Wawro (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) led off with a double, getting to third on a Nolan Sandee (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) base hit. Robertson then smashed a three-run home run over the left field fence, his 14^th of the season, to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead. Vinny Spotofora (Shorewood, Ill./Lake Land College) followed with a single and Baldwin hit the first of his two doubles. Parcell hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to bring home Spotofora and make the score 4-2. Couchman then hit a two-run home run to left field to double the lead to 6-2.
 
"All nine guys in the lineup were on the barrel today," said Robertson. "Recently the pitching has been our strong suit and the offense was struggling a bit. We backed up the pitchers in the first after they've backed us up most of the year."
 
Both teams scored twice in the second inning. The Huskies extended their lead in the third after a Nathan Borchardt RBI double made the score 8-5. NIU loaded the bases with one out on a walk and two hit by pitches. Robertson laced a single to left to score two runs and give NIU a 10-5 advantage.
 
The Eagles closed within two runs after a run in the fourth and two in the fifth that made the score 10-8. Blake Gaskey (Davenport, Iowa/Ohio) entered the game from the Huskies' bullpen and got the final two outs of the fifth, then retired the side in the sixth. NIU went back up by three, 11-8, in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out RBI single from Parcell that scored Robertson. Gaskey put up two zeros in the seventh and eighth inning before NIU scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 15-8 lead. Marcus Romero (Brighton, Colo./South Mountain College) scored on a wild pitch to cap the inning.
 
Gaskey earned the win in relief, his fifth win this season. The senior right-hander held the Eagles to one run on four hits with a strikeout in 4.2 innings pitched.
 
"Blake has done this all year," Copeland said. "He's a bridge guy, a backend guy and a competitor. Blake came in and threw a ton of strikes, which changed EMU's swings and made it more of a baseball game. He's been an unsung hero out of the bullpen all year."
 
The two teams continue this weekend's series on Saturday, April 25 at 2 p.m.
 
--NIU--