DeKALB – NIU baseball (14-23, 4-13 MAC) split its Friday doubleheader with the University of Akron (11-26, 5-15 MAC) as junior infielder Will Couchman walked off Game 1 win for the Huskies with a homerun.
“Even though we did split today, I thought we weren’t very good in the box,” said NIU baseball head coach Ryan Copeland. “Not very competitive overall, not good enough and that should never happen at home in a double header.”
Couchman was a key contributor in the Huskies 5-4 victory to open the doubleheader, slugging two solo home runs in the game, including the game winner in the 10th inning.
Couhcman went 2/4 in the first game, and finished the double header 3/7 with 2 homeruns, 3 RBIs and 1 walk.
“(Will) Couchman’s been outstanding,” Copeland said. “Felt like it was gonna be a tough day to hit and then when it felt like we were struggling at the plate, he stepped up and found a way to win the game himself, that’s what it takes sometimes. He’s been outstanding lately after a really tough start to the year. I’m really happy with Will’s production offensively.”
NIU’s offense in Game 1 was backed by 7.1 strong innings from sophomore pitcher Ty Brachbill.
Brachbill turned in his best and longest start of the season, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits while striking out six Zips.
“He (Ty Brachbill) threw the ball really well,” Copeland said. “He allowed us to be in a position to win that game when we went to extra innings.”
After Couchman’s heroics in Game 1, the Huskies dropped Game 2 of the double header by a score of 12-2 in 8 innings.
Freshman pitcher Carter Cox was given his first start of the season and his collegiate career in Game 2.
“We brought Carter (Cox) here to be a weekend starter,” Copeland said. “It feels like Carter did more than enough to earn another start next weekend.”
Cox impressed in his first collegiate start, going five innings while giving up 2 runs, one of which was earned, on 2 hits, 2 walks while striking out 3 batters.
“Carter (Cox) has been nails all year,” Copeland said. “The numbers might not show it but he’s pitching some big spots, especially for a freshman, and we feel confident sliding him in there with his ability to throw strikes. They have a lot of left handed hitters in their lineup, and we felt like it was a good matchup for him.”
Junior pitcher John Lyman pitched the final two innings of Game 1, throwing 2 scoreless innings and only giving up 2 hits to help secure the Huskies’ victory.
Junior catcher Logan Gregorio saw his 13 game hitting streak snapped in the first game of the day, but he followed that up with a 2/3 performance in Game 2 with a walk and a run scored.
The left handed slugger ranks second in the MAC for home runs with 14 and first in RBIs with 51.
Sophomore catcher Cooper Cohn had a productive day at the plate, going 3/7 over both games with a game tying single in the eighth inning of Game 1 as his only RBI on the day.
Senior outfielder JP Gauthier continued to sing a hot bat in the doubleheader, as he has now reached base in 19 consecutive games.
Gauthier has also gotten a hit in 18 of his last 19 games, dating back to March 22. Gauthier slugged his 7th home run of the season in Game 1, a 2-run shot to score Gregorio.
The Illinois State University transfer currently ranks 15th in the MAC in batting average at .337.
The Huskies will conclude their weekend series against Akron at 1 p.m. Saturday at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park in DeKalb. Live stats will be available at SIDEARM Stats and the game will be streamed via NIU All-Access.
