NIU baseball rode an offensive surge in the fourth inning to overtake Abilene Christian University 14-7 Sunday to avoid the sweep in the opening season series. 

The Huskies’ early offensive showing proved to be enough, as they did not trail for any of the nine innings. NIU’s offense was backed by a strong start from senior pitcher Jacob Wilde.

HOT HUSKIE BATS

Freshman outfielder Charlie Parcell had the best game of his young career, finishing his day with a slash line of 3 hits, two RBI’s, a double and a home run. 

Senior catcher Colin Summerhill also helped shoulder the offensive load, picking up 2 hits in 4 at-bats with 2 walks and a home run. 

Junior infielder Christian Seegers was the third Huskie batter to supply the long ball for NIU, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. 

LOCKDOWN PITCHING

Wilde totaled 4.1 innings pitched while tallying seven strikeouts and only giving up two runs on 2 hits. Junior pitcher Mason Ruh relieved Wilde in the fifth inning and compiled a statline of 1.2 innings pitched while giving up three runs on five hits.

Senior pitcher Jacob Draeger tallied two innings of work in the game while only surrendering one base hit and striking out one batter.  

Senior infielder Eric Erato started the scoring for the Huskies with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, scoring Parcell. Junior catcher Kaden Kosobucki scored the second run of the opening frame on a wild pitch. 

Summerhill added another run in the top of the third inning thanks to a solo home run off of Abilene Christian’s junior pitcher Luke Krkovski. 

FOURTH INNING BARRAGE

The Huskies blew the game open in the top half of the fourth inning, putting up a 10-spot on ACU’s pitching. The inning was highlighted by  two, 2-run doubles by Parcell and senior infielder Mason Kelley and a two-run home run by Seegers. 

Following their explosive fourth inning, the Huskies led Abilene by a score of 13-1. ACU tacked on four runs of their own in the bottom half of the fifth inning to pull within eight. 

Parcell added on their 14th run of the contest in the top of the seventh on a solo shot that would stretch the lead to 14-5. ACU scored two more runs in the bottom of the ninth from two wild pitches by Kohanzo.

The Huskies’ next contest will take place at 2 p.m. Thursday as they travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to take on the defending College World Series champion and No. 2 ranked Louisiana State University. 

The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available via Stat Broadcast.