DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team split its doubleheader with the Western Michigan Broncos Saturday afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field, winning the nightcap 5-2 after the Broncos won game one 5-2.
NIU (11-30, 10-17 MAC) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of game two on a Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) leadoff home run over the right field fence. Lonteen struck again in the bottom of the third. With runners at second and third and two out, the senior shortstop laced a single to right field to drive in two runs and put the Huskies up 3-0. After a Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) single put runners at the corners, NIU successfully executed a double steal with Lonteen taking home plate to make the score 4-0.
"When you get second and third with no outs and your 4-5-6 hitters coming up, you expect to score runs," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "It wasn't quite how we wanted to do it, but Dylan stepped up and drove in those two runs with two outs."
That was all the run support starting pitcher Ryan Anderson (Palatine, Ill./McHenry C.C.) would need. The right-hander retired the first 13 batters he faced before Justin McIntyre hit a single to left field with one out in the top of the fourth. McIntyre was eventually left at third base as Anderson got a groundout and a strikeout to end the inning.
The Huskies put another run on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) drew a walk with the bases loaded and two outs to make the score 5-0. Western Michigan got on the board in the top of the sixth as a Connor Charping RBI single and a McIntyre sacrifice fly made the score 5-2. Anderson bounced back in the seventh to earn his first complete game win as a Huskie.
"Today was probably the best I've thrown in my time here," said Anderson following his complete game victory. "My changeup felt amazing all day. Being able to locate that and work off my fastball had them off balance. It makes it a lot easier when the offense goes out and scores runs like they did."
"It was a great job by Ryan," Kunigonis added. "We needed a good start out of him and he gave us a chance to go win tomorrow with a loaded bullpen."
Lonteen was 2-for-2 with three RBI in the nightcap. Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland C.C.) also had two hits in the game. Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) was 1-for-3 in the game to extend his current hitting streak to 10 games. Anderson allowed two runs on three hits over the seven innings, striking out four Broncos with one walk.
Western Michigan (17-20, 16-11 MAC) got out to a 2-0 lead in game one on a Sean O'Keefe solo home run in the first inning and a Will Morrison squeeze bunt in the second. The Huskies tied the game in the fourth when back-to-back RBI singles from Lonteen and Larson made the score 2-2. The Broncos took the lead right back in the top of the fifth. After a single and a walk, O'Keefe cleared the bases with a two-run double to put Western Michigan ahead 4-2. Ethan Hajdukovic made the score 5-2 with a single to centerfield, scoring O'Keefe.
The Huskies threated to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth. Dunham and Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) led off with back-to-back singles. Western Michigan starting pitcher Easton Sikorski held NIU scoreless in the inning with a strikeout and a double play to get out of the inning, then worked around a two-out walk in the seventh to earn the complete game victory with a 5-2 win.
First pitch of Sunday's series finale is now at 2 p.m. central after being originally scheduled for 12 p.m.
--NIU--
"with" - Google News
May 09, 2021 at 06:37AM
https://ift.tt/3hamSvR
NIU Splits Twinbill With Western Michigan - Northern Illinois University Athletics
"with" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3d5QSDO
https://ift.tt/2ycZSIP
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "NIU Splits Twinbill With Western Michigan - Northern Illinois University Athletics"
Post a Comment