DeKALB – Redshirt sophomore pitcher Adam Brouwer was dominant on the mound as NIU baseball (16-30, 10-13 MAC) tied the series against the Ball State University Cardinals (26-19-1, 13-10 MAC) with a 12-3 win Saturday.
Brouwer went seven or more innings for the third straight time en route to his third straight win. Brouwer allowed just one run on two hits in seven innings pitched. The Cardinals did not record a hit until the sixth inning.
“It starts on the mound,” said NIU baseball head coach Ryan Copeland. “Adam was fantastic again. He’s been really good in MAC play.”
The Huskies took what the Cardinals pitching staff gave them, walking eight times and reaching base on four hit by pitches. Senior catcher/outfielder Colin Summerhill led the way offensively, going 3-for-6 with four RBIs.
HIT PARADE
NIU’s lineup erupted against the Ball State pitching staff, as seven Huskies recorded hits and six Huskies recorded RBIs. Ball State freshman pitcher/outfielder Keegan Johnson allowed four earned runs on just two hits, lasting just 1.2 innings on the mound.
A sacrifice fly from freshman catcher Cooper Cohn allowed NIU to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The Huskie bats came alive in the second inning, scoring four runs, three of which on a double from Summerhill to put the Huskies up 5-0.
The Huskies had another four-run inning in the bottom of the fifth inning to balloon their lead to 9-0. Senior infielder Mason Kelley roped an RBI double for the first run of the inning and Summerhill added to his RBI total, driving in his fourth run of the game.
Summerhill’s 55 RBIs rank second in the MAC.
“Colin’s obviously our guy,” Copeland said. “He’s as good as it gets and he’s had some big hits for us in the past few weeks.”
After Brouwer gave up his lone run in the top of the seventh inning, the Huskies immediately answered with three runs in the bottom half of the seventh. Freshman outfielder Charlie Parcell provided the big hit of the inning with a two-RBI double to extend the NIU lead to 12-1.
PROMINENT PITCHING
Brouwer carried a no-hitter through five innings, surrendering his first hit to Cardinal senior outfielder Clay Jacobs. Brouwer struck out three batters and issued no walks, lowering his conference ERA to 2.70, good for third in the MAC.
“Adam did a great job going back out there and putting up zero after zero and not giving them any life,” Copeland said.
Redshirt senior pitcher Reagan Klawiter pitched the eighth inning in relief of Brouwer, allowing one earned run on two hits. Senior pitcher DJ Hess surrendered a lead-off home run in the top of the ninth to freshman catcher Max Kalk before getting graduate infielder Corey Miley to ground out, securing the 12-3 NIU win.
UP NEXT
The Huskies’ next game will be a rubber match against Ball State at 1 p.m. Sunday at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park in DeKalb. The game will be live streamed on NIU All-Access and live stats will be available via SIDEARM Stats.
“I’m confident that if we play the same type of game as we did yesterday in a loss and today in a really convincing win, we’ll be leaving here tomorrow feeling good about ourselves,” Copeland said.
