DeKALB – NIU baseball (12-19, 3-9 MAC) allowed 13 unanswered runs and dropped its Tuesday matchup with Eastern Illinois University (14-15, 5-3 OVC) 18-10.
“It’s just not good enough,” said NIU baseball head coach Ryan Copeland. “Our defense right now isn’t good enough, our pitching too. It’s just a broken record, you hear it game after game. I’m tired of getting humiliated at home.”
The Huskies played their first of two midweek games on Tuesday, using nine pitchers with no pitcher going more than 2 innings.
Only three of the nine pitchers used against EIU did not surrender a run, while five pitchers allowed 2 or more runs.
NIU’s bullpen struggles have been a common theme that have plagued the Huskies for most of the year, as they rank 8th in the MAC in earned run average at 7.59.
“They’re (the bullpen) going to have to be available,” Copeland said. “They’re going to have to bounce back. These double midweek games are tough, they’re tough on everybody. But good programs win them, they find a way to get guys to step up and get some length out of their bullpen.”
After taking a 9-5 lead in the fourth inning, the Huskies bullpen proceeded to surrender 13 unanswered runs before a ninth inning solo shot by senior catcher Kaden Kosobucki ended the Panthers’ run.
Freshman pitcher Carter Cox started the game for the Huskies, logging the longest outing of that day for NIU, working 2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 batters.
Freshman pitcher Jack Olson and junior pitcher Clayton Taylor both turned in scoreless outings for the Huskies in the eighth and ninth innings.
The Huskies offense turned in another double-digit scoring game which now marks the third-straight game in which the Huskies have scored at least 10 runs.
Over its last three games, NIU has put up a total of 43 runs and has hit 7 home runs.
“We scored 10 runs,” Copeland said. “If you score 10 runs a game, you’re probably in the top 5-10 (teams) in scoring in the NCAA. So, I’m not going to get upset with our offense. It’s impossible as a human being to fight and claw when any kind of momentum you grab as an offense gets taken right back from the other team because of our inability to get guys out on the mound. So, I’m not going to worry about those guys.”
Junior catcher Logan Gregorio continued his impressive offensive season by hitting his 13th home run of the season.
With Gregorio’s home run, he is now tied for third place on NIU’s single season home run list.
The current record holder is former NIU catcher/outfielder Colin Summerhill, who set the record last season when he hit 19 home runs.
Senior outfielder JP Gauthier kept his hit streak intact, extending it to 13 games, by going 1/5 on the day with 4 RBIs.
Gauthier’s lone hit for the game was a fourth-inning grand slam that at the time put the Huskies up 9-5.
“He’s (JP Gauthier’s) great,” Copeland said. “We bounced him around the lineup, we want our guys to take jobs, and he did that. We were platooning with four outfielders out there for most of the early parts of the season, and he got a chance at Butler to earn a job and he’s done that.”
Gregorio and Gauthier now both sit at 15th and 16th in the MAC in batting average, as both hitters are over the .340 mark on the season.
Sophomore outfielder Charlie Parcell finished the day scoring a team-high 3 runs on top of a 1/3 day at the plate.
UP NEXT
The Huskies next game will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday against the University of Illinois-Chicago in Chicago. Live stats will be available via StatBroadcast.
