NIU baseball (0-2) suffered a 10-2 loss at the hands of the Nicholls State University Colonels (2-0) on Saturday, dropping the second game of the series.
“It’s really important to us that our starting pitching is good early and we’re ready to go when the game starts,” said NIU baseball head coach Ryan Copeland. “We didn’t do that today. We just need to be better at the start of the game. Yesterday we were and unfortunately had a really heartbreaking loss yesterday, but we didn’t have much of a chance today. We went down really early and didn’t play very good baseball afterwards, so pretty disappointed.”
Sophomore pitcher Ty Brachbill took the mound for NIU, giving up 8 runs in three innings of work. Brachbill, who led the Huskies with 59 strikeouts in 2024, recorded three while walking two batters.
After a hit by pitch sent junior outfielder Narvin Booker Jr. to first, a series of base hits drove in 3 runs for the Colonels, putting the Huskies down in the bottom of the first inning.
Nicholls scored 5 runs in the third inning to give them a 8-0 lead over the Huskies. Of the 5 runs scored, four were unearned. Errors from junior infielder Ben Loyd and junior catcher Logan Gregorio contributed to the five committed by the Huskie defense over the course of the game.
Nicholls senior pitcher Alec Sparks shut down the Huskie offense until the top of the sixth inning, recording 7 strikeouts.
“We’re striking out quite a bit,” Copeland said of the offensive struggles. “ We struck out 12 times yesterday (Friday) and 10 times today (Saturday). And we don’t have an extra base hit. It’s just tough to win in today’s game of college baseball if you can’t hit the ball between the gaps and hit the ball over the fence. When you go down early the chance you’re going to have to get back in the game is to come up with some big hits.We’ve got to find a way to be more offensive, a little more dangerous at the plate.”
Freshman pitcher Carter Cox replaced Brachbill for the Huskies, coming into the game in the fourth inning. Cox struck out two while allowing 2 runs, putting the Huskies down by ten.
In the sixth inning, senior outfielder Gavin Baldwin hit a single through the left side, before advancing to second on a groundout by senior infielder Ryan Burr. Sophomore outfielder Charlie Parcell then hit a single to center field, moving Baldwin to third. Parcell advanced to second off a pinch hitting walk from senior outfield J.P. Gauthier, loading the bases.
With two outs, senior infielder/outfielder Andrew Smart managed a base hit to bring home Baldwin and Parcell to put the Huskies on the board.
Despite opportunities to score, runners left on base plagued the offense. NIU left 12 runners stranded in the second loss of the series.
The Huskies have yet to record more than a single on the season, with all 5 hits going for one base.
NIU’s bullpen shut down Nicholls’ offense after the fourth inning, only allowing three hits to keep the Colonels at 10 runs. Junior pitcher Clayton Taylor, redshirt junior pitcher Mason Ruh, sophomore pitcher Alex Day and junior pitcher Sebastian Gutierrez combined for four scoreless innings.
“We did not play fundamental baseball at all, so that has to get better,” Copeland said. “That’s going to be a big point of emphasis for us, and in reality it comes down to our toughness. How tough of a program are we, how tough are our players, how tough are the coaching staff. To be able to come in tomorrow and forget about today’s game and find a way to scratch and claw and fight for a win tomorrow. Tomorrow’s just about toughness and I’m looking forward to how we respond.”
The Huskies will look to avoid being swept by Nicholls at 11 a.m. Sunday in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Live stats will be updated on SideArm Stats.
