MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Northern Illinois University baseball team locked up its seventh straight weekend series victory on Saturday, outscoring the Central Michigan Chippewas 5-1 over the last four innings for a 10-5 victory at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
Junior third baseman
Vinny Spotofora (Shorewood, Ill./Lake Land College) tied a season-high with five runs batted in on Saturday, going 3-for-4 with a double. Spotofora has driven in 18 runs in his last seven games.
Cole Smith (Dubuque, Iowa/Bradley) also had three hits in the game with a walk and an RBI.
Wyatt Wawro had multiple hits for the eighth game running, going 2-for-3 with two walks and four runs scored.
"It looks like we finally found the right combination at the top of the lineup," said head coach
Ryan Copeland after Saturday's win. "What Wyatt is doing as a freshman in this league is so impressive. He's just a spark plug for us and tremendous defensively. Wyatt takes his walks, doesn't strike out a lot and the sky's the limit for him in terms of his potential. For him and Cole to get on base at the clips they are means you're going to score a lot of runs."
NIU (28-13, 18-8 MAC) broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the fourth inning. Wawro led off with a walk, getting to second on a wild pitch. Smith then laced a base hit to give the Huskies runners at the corners. After a flyout Spotofora hit a groundball to CMU second baseman xx to drive in Wawro and put NIU up 5-4.
Danny Cihocki (Princeton, Ill./Lake Land College) kept the Huskies in front, stranding a runner at first in the bottom of the inning.
Spotofora extended the NIU lead in the top of the sixth. With runners at the corners and one out, the Huskies' third baseman hit a flyball to right field deep enough to score Wawro for a 6-4 lead.
Blake Gaskey (Davenport, Iowa/Ohio) entered the game on the mound in the fifth and retired the first four batters he faced before hitting Zach Knowlton with a pitch in the sixth. After a flyout Cole Prout singled to centerfield to give CMU runners at first and third with two down. Gaskey got Drew Lokitis to fly out to end the inning.
Central Michigan (19-26, 9-17 MAC) got within a run in the bottom of the seventh when a Spencer Verburg leadoff home run made the score 6-5. Gaskey retired the side to keep the lead at one. NIU got some insurance runs in the top of the eighth. The Huskies had Wawro at third and
Caden Robertson (Magnolia, Texas/Central Oklahoma) at first with two outs when Spotofora ripped a double to left field, scoring both runners to give NIU an 8-5 lead.
"Vinny just had some phenomenal at-bats today," Copeland said. "He really put the game away in the eighth, doing a good job of making sure he didn't strike out and fouling off pitches. He then got what he could handle, drove a pitch backside for a double to score two. Vinny is getting hot at the right time and getting better as the year goes on."
Marcus Romero (Brighton, Colo./South Mountain College) followed with a single to left to bring home Spotofora and put the Huskies' up by four 9-5. NIU tacked on one more run in the ninth as
Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) hit a leadoff home run to give the Huskies a 10-5 advantage.
NIU is now 12-0 this season when scoring at least 10 runs. The Huskies have put at least seven runs on the board in each of the last seven games. Gaskey moves to 7-1 on the year, allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts. His five innings tied a season-high last set on March 29 against Bowling Green.
"Blake just competes his way through every pitch and every inning," Copeland said. "We fell really good about going to him at any point in the game, which is why managing the bullpen properly yesterday was so important. I'm happy for him that he's having success this year and getting a second chance in this league."
The Huskies and Chippewas wrap up this weekend's series on Sunday, May 3 at 12 p.m. CT.
—NIU—
