NIU baseball’s hot start fueled a 16-4 victory over Southeast Missouri State University as NIU started its weekend series with a win on Friday.
The Huskies have now won each of their last two contests by a combined score of 37-6.
NIU earned its first win of the season on Sunday against Nicholls State University, winning by a score of 21-2.
“I think getting these guys to make sure that we’re not expanding the strike zone,” said NIU baseball head coach Ryan Copeland. “I think for any pitcher, it gets pretty tough when the opposing offense does a really good job with their patience and being able to make sure that we not only stay in the zone, but also get good pitches to hit.”
The Huskies slugged 4 home runs in the contest, highlighted by senior infielder/outfielder Andrew Smart’s third inning grand slam. Smart’s grand slam marks NIU’s third so far this season.
NIU has now totaled 8 home runs so far this season, with senior outfielder Gavin Baldwin leading the team with 2 home runs on the season.
Redshirt junior pitcher Adam Brouwer delivered another solid performance for the Huskies in the series opener, earning his first win of the season.
Brouwer totaled 5 innings of work, allowing no runs on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 4 batters.
The University of Illinois-Springfield transfer now has pitched 11 innings this season without allowing a run. Brouwer has also picked up 10 strikeouts through his first two outings.
“Brouwer has been doing this stuff for me for years, with me back at Illinois-Springfield and now in my second year here,” Copeland said. “He’s so steady, so dependable. He actually wasn’t very sharp tonight, he walked four guys which is pretty uncharacteristic of him.”
The NIU bullpen threw four innings following Brouwer’s departure in the beginning of the sixth, using four pitchers to close out the series opener.
Redshirt junior pitcher Mason Ruh was the first Huskie to emerge from the bullpen, totaling 1.1 innings pitched. Ruh exited the game walking one batter and allowing no runs or hits.
Freshman pitcher Alex Graber closed out the game for NIU, pitching the ninth inning and allowing 1 run on 0 hits.
NIU got the scoring started early, putting up a five-spot on the board in the first inning, capped off by a three-run home run by sophomore catcher Cooper Cohn, his first of the year.
The Huskies scored 14 of its 16 runs in the first three innings, including an eight-run third inning which was fueled by Smart’s grand slam.
“That’s (Southeast Missouri State) a really good program, they’ve played in a lot of very important games over the last few years,” Copeland said. “So we jump out with a five-spot in the first, then get a single run in the second and have that huge third. Anytime you get an early lead, you’re just trying to make sure your guys stay in the game, that they stay relentless.”
Clutch hitting played a pivotal role for the Huskies huge offensive performance, as NIU went 9/20 with runners on base and 6/12 with runners in scoring position.
“It’s really important to get hits with two outs, which we did a handful of times,” Copeland said. “And you can really demoralize a team and take an effect on their dugout.”
Some notable offensive performers for the Huskies in their win over SEMO were junior infielder Ben Loyd, Cohn, Smart and Baldwin.
Loyd slugged his first homer with the Huskies in the sixth inning, a two-run shot that capped off the scoring for the Huskies in the game.
Cohn led the team in hits during Friday’s win, going 3/4 at the plate with his first inning three-run blast.
Smart’s only hit of the game was his third inning grand slam, but he also picked up an RBI in the first inning on a sacrifice fly to start the scoring. Smart had 5 RBI’s on the day, bringing his total to a team leading 7.
Baldwin, the only NIU player with multiple long balls this season, smacked a two-run homerun in the third inning.
NIU continues its weekend series against Southeast Missouri State at 4 p.m. Saturday in Oxford, Alabama, at Choccolocco Park. Live stats will be broadcasted on StatBroadcast.
