Entering a four game series 0-7 all-time against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (2-9), NIU baseball (6-4) completed a series sweep against the Cougars on Sunday. Game 1 saw a dominant 13-4 win for the Huskies, before inching out a 5-3 win in Game 2.
“Really proud of our effort,” said NIU baseball head coach Ryan Copeland. “It takes a lot of toughness, a lot of grit, to fight the way through a four game series. We took their best punch there in game four to respond, and just really, really proud of our group. I thought we competed our tails off, offense came alive when we needed to, and can’t say enough about our pitching.”
GAME 1
The Huskies came out hot in the top of the first inning, bringing 11 batters to the plate. A series of singles and three Huskies being hit by pitch propelled the offense to a 5 run first inning, all of which were scored with 2 outs. The early runs from NIU forced the Cougars to go to their bullpen early, with junior starting pitcher Garrett Helsel exiting after 0.2 innings.
In the top of the second, senior infielder/outfielder Andrew Smart hit a 2 RBI double, bringing home senior outfielder CJ Cepicky and junior catcher Logan Gregorio to put the Huskies up 7-1.
The scoring continued in the third inning, with the Huskies bringing home two more. Sophomore outfielder Charlie Parcell singled to get on base, before stealing second and third. Parcell came home off a single from senior catcher Kaden Kosobucki. Kosobucki scored an unearned run to put NIU up by seven.
NIU hit back-to-back homeruns in the fifth, first a three-run shot to left field by senior outfielder Gavin Baldwin to bring home Gregorio and Kosobucki. Cepicky came up to bat next, sending the ball over the left field fence to score the Huskies’ thirteenth and final run.
Cougars senior catcher Joshua Heyder hit a two-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning, bringing SIUE to 4 runs.
Junior pitcher Max Vaisvila pitched a complete seven inning game for the Huskies, allowing 2 earned runs in the outing. Vaisvila struck out eight, while only allowing one free base.
“Max (Vaisvila) was really, really good again today,” Copeland said. “That was big for our bullpen. In a game with that type of score, you probably try to get him out of there after five or six innings, but we just knew we were going to need all of our arms ready for Game 4. Max being able to go seven and throw the complete game was just not just big for him, but big for us and setting up our bullpen for the final game.”
GAME 2
The Huskies’ offense came out slower in the second game of the day, stranding five runners in the first two innings of the game.
The Cougars got on the board first, with a homerun from redshirt senior outfielder Kyle Ratliff in the bottom of the second inning.
SIUE picked up two more runs in the third inning, going up 3-0 on the Huskies.
Scoring 4 runs in the fourth inning, the Huskies came from behind to take a 4-3 lead. Junior infielder Will Couchman scored on a single from sophomore catcher Cooper Cohn, before Cohn and freshman infielder Nolan Sandee scored off an error from Cougars graduate student infielder Lane Crowden.
The Huskies rounded out the inning with junior infielder Ben Loyd scoring on a sacrifice fly out from Gregorio.
In the top of the seventh inning, Smart sent the ball over the left field fence to give the Huskies an insurance run, bringing the lead to two with 3 outs to go.
“Andrew’s (Smart) been good for us in the middle of our order,” Copeland said. “I think we’re still looking for a little more consistency from him, but he’s come up with some big hits. Game 1, threw a couple good punches there, and of course with a huge home run in the top of the seventh to give us an insurance run.”
Redshirt senior pitcher Zach Hise started the game for the Huskies, allowing 3 runs in three innings of work.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Danny Cihocki is credited with the save, striking out four and allowing only 2 hits in three innings pitched.
Cihocki has recorded 15 strikeouts over 9.1 innings, including five in 2.2 innings in Friday’s 5-4 win against the Cougars.
UP NEXT
The Huskies take on their first Mid-American Conference opponent at 2 p.m. Friday in Kent, Ohio, against Kent State University. Live stats will be updated on SideArm Stats.
“It’s a great program,” Copeland said of Kent State. “They’ve done a great job and have a large tradition of winning. It’s going to be a tough challenge for us. We’ll be prepared, well rested and ready to compete there against a really good program.”
