Breaking a record that’s stood for over 20 years, NIU baseball (16-28, 5-16 MAC) hit four home runs in a 18-15 loss at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (15-27, 11-9 Horizon League) to set a program record for most home runs in a single season.
With the four from Tuesday, the Huskies have hit 73 home runs in the 2025 season, surpassing the 70-home run record set in 2003.
After going up in the first inning, NIU’s offense struggled at the plate until the later innings in the battle against the Panthers.
Junior infielder Ben Loyd took a free pass to first with the bases loaded, bringing home sophomore outfielder Charlie Parcell to get the Huskies on the board.
The Panthers scored 10 unanswered runs in the first four innings before the Huskie offense was able to score again.
Junior pitcher Max Vaisvila started on the mound for NIU, pitching two innings while allowing 5 runs on 6 hits. Redshirt senior pitcher Zach Hise pitched the third and fourth innings out of the bullpen, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits.
Senior outfielder Gavin Baldwin’s RBI single to bring home senior outfielder JP Gauthier in the fifth inning and senior outfielder CJ Cepicky’s 2-run home run in the sixth inning got the offense going for the Huskies, bringing the score to 16-4.
A 4-run eighth inning for NIU was ended with a double from Gauthier to bring home two, putting the Huskies at 8 runs scored.
The offense continued in the ninth inning, when NIU scored 7 runs to come within three of the Panthers.
The first batter of the inning, Baldwin started the scoring with a solo shot to left center field. Sophomore infielder Kayden Jennings hit his first career home run, a 2-run shot that scored sophomore catcher Cooper Cohn. Cepicky hit his second home run of the day in the next at-bat, going back-to-back with Jennings to put the Huskies within six of the Panthers.
NIU brought home three more runs in the comeback attempt, falling short with the lead run at the plate for the last out.
Baldwin, Cepicky and Gauhtier led the effort with 3 RBIs each, while combining for 5 runs.
Vaisvila earned the loss on Tuesday, while sophomore pitcher Alex Day had the only scoreless outing for the Huskies with a three-up, three-down sixth inning.
UP NEXT
The Huskies resume Mid-American Conference play at 2 p.m. Friday against Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. ESPN+ will have a stream of the game and live stats will be updated on SideArm Stats.
