NIU baseball (8-13, 1-8 MAC) snapped an eight-game losing streak Tuesday, escaping a bases loaded ninth inning to take a 15-14 win against the Eastern Illinois University Panthers (9-13, 2-1 OVC).
“We just needed to go get one,” said NIU baseball head coach Ryan Copeland. “We’ve lost a lot of really close games here in the past couple weeks, many of those being in conference. It’s been a tough go for us. I feel like for the most part we’ve played well, we’ve just had a hard time finishing games out. We’ve preached to our guys about finishing, and it wasn’t pretty today, but we found a way to get the win.”
The Huskies’ offense came out strong, putting up 5 runs in the top of the first inning to give junior pitcher Gavin Micklinghoff room to work in his first start of the season. Junior catcher Logan Greogorio started the scoring for the Huskies with a homerun over the right field fence, followed by a two-run shot from junior infielder Will Couchman.
After recording 2 outs on the inning, Micklinghoff gave up a grand slam, shrinking NIU’s lead to one. The Panthers tied the game in the second inning on a sacrifice fly from junior infielder Mike O’Conor.
A back-and-forth third inning saw the Huskies take a 6-5 lead in the top of the inning when junior infielder Ben Loyd brought home senior infielder/outfielder Andrew Smart on a sacrifice groundout. EIU leveled the score in the bottom of the third inning, stealing home to end the inning even at 6-6.
The sixth inning was a repeat of the first, with the Huskies increasing their lead by five only to give the Panthers back four, ending the inning with a 12-10 lead for NIU.
The Huskies held the lead until the bottom of the eighth, when O’Conor hit a three-run home run off NIU junior pitcher John Lyman to give the Panthers the lead.
Senior outfielder Gavin Baldwin came up big for the Huskies in the top of the ninth, hitting a 2 RBI single to bring home freshman outfielder Jalen House and sophomore outfielder Charlie Parcell and give NIU a 15-14 lead.
“When we needed it most there in the ninth inning, the top of our order stopped up,” Copeland said. “Of course, Gavin (Baldwin) got the big hit up the middle to take the lead.”
The Panthers threatened in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with two outs. Senior pitcher Conner Lutes struck out O’Conor to end the game, earning his first career save.
“Lutsey’s (Conner Lutes) a guy who’s been in the program for four years,” Copeland said. “He’s seen some ups and a lot of downs. He’s an experienced pitcher, so we felt like he was our guy there at the end of the game. He was our best option at that point, and it wasn’t pretty for him as well, mixed in the walks. He got two big outs and really picked us up for something that I think we all needed.”
The Huskies utilized eight pitchers in the contest, with sophomore pitcher Alex Day earning the win. Freshman Carter Cox pitched the longest for NIU, allowing 3 runs and striking out two in four innings of work.
UP NEXT
The Huskies return home at 2 p.m. Wednesday when they take on the University of Illinois Chicago at Ralph McKenzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park. The game will be streamed on NIU All-Access and live stats will be updated on SideArm Stats.
“More than anything, it changes the vibe when you get to the park,” said Copeland on how getting back in the win column changes the energy of the team. “The guys have a little more pep in their step and a little more confidence. Hopefully we can take the good from today and just go play good baseball, but we’ll live with the result no matter what happens.”
