NIU baseball (21-11, 13-6 MAC) took its series opener 10-8 against the Akron University Zips (16-22, 6-13 MAC) in dramatic fashion on Friday.
The Huskies totaled just five hits in the contest but were able to get on base 13 times off free passes with nine walks and four hit by pitches.
“We found a way to get a win,” said NIU baseball head coach Ryan Copeland. “It was not an extremely well played game. I thought offensively we weren’t very good. We need to be better tomorrow. But Akron is a tough, gritty group and we took what they gave us and we found a way to get it done.”
The bottom of the Huskies lineup was able to provide most of the production in the game, as the 7-9 hitters in the lineup accounted for three of NIU’s 5 hits and drove in four runs.
Junior catcher Cooper Cohn went 1-for-3 and had the Huskies’ only hit through the first seven innings. Cohn drove in two runs and slugged his second home run of the season.
Junior infielder Kayden Jennings entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and drove in a run in both of his at-bats.
“We needed it,” Copeland said. “We had a bunch of opportunities with the middle of our order there to drive in some runs and they just didn’t get it done. We’re always looking for length, just get some length through our lineup. Good at-bats, one through nine, and the bottom of the order picked us up big time today.”
Senior catcher Ivan Dahlberg slugged his sixth home run of the season in the ninth inning, a three-run blast off a lefty that put NIU in front for good.
The left-handed catcher’s six long balls on the season rank third on the team. His dramatic ninth inning home run was his first since March 22 against Miami University.
“Ivan has been working through some stuff, he’s as hard of a worker as we have,” Copeland said. “He hasn’t been as good as he needs to be offensively, he would tell you that himself. So, we’re trying to work through some things and get him where he needs to be to help this club be a better offense. But when the game is on the line, he’s shown time and time again that he’s going to find a way to get a big hit.”
Dahlberg also caught his 15th baserunner this season from the catcher position and did not allow a stolen base during the game. The Zips are first in the MAC in stolen bases with 98.
Senior pitcher Max Vaisvila made his second consecutive series-opening start, going six innings and allowing 3 runs on six hits with three strikeouts.
“Max relied on his competitiveness today,” Copeland said. “I thought Akron did a pretty good job against him. They got him for a couple of runs early but he settled in with a few zeroes. But it was just a really good job of competing and finding a way to keep us in the game. Max didn’t have his A+ stuff, but he has just set the bar so high for himself that when he does six innings with three runs, it’s a quality start but it almost feels like a letdown.”
The Huskies are still yet to lose a game this season in which Vaisvila has started. The last game the Huskies lost that Vaisvila appeared in was May 16, 2025, against Bowling Green State University.
Through 10 starts this season, Vaisvila ranks third in the MAC in ERA and ranks first in innings pitched and strikeouts.
Senior pitcher Blake Gaskey, NIU’s most reliable arm so far this season, struggled in his outing on Friday. Gaskey gave up four runs in just under two innings of work.
Senior pitcher Matt Tarr closed out the game and earned the win for the ballgame, going 1.1 innings. Tarr gave up one run and struck out one batter.
UP NEXT
The Huskies will continue its series at 9 a.m. Saturday against Akron in Akron, Ohio. The game will be streamed on the Zips Digital Network and live stats will be available via SIDEARM Sports.
