Clinching its seventh consecutive series victory, NIU baseball (28-13, 18-8 MAC) defeated the Central Michigan University Chippewas (19-26, 9-17 MAC) in a 10-5 win on Saturday.
“I love how we came out offensively again, chasing their starter early,” head coach Ryan Copeland said. “We knew they were going to fight early. They threw a punch there , responded to even the game up and they had a chance to go up and Danny (Cihocki) got out of it. A good series win, and we’ve got to find a way to close this thing out tomorrow.”
A series of hits gave the Huskies a 4-0 lead in the top of the first, which Central Michigan quickly erased, putting up 4 runs of its own in the bottom of the inning.
Junior infielder Vinny Spotofora regained the lead for NIU in the fourth inning, grounding out to score freshman outfielder Wyatt Wawro.
After allowing four runs in the first, junior pitcher Danny Cihocki held the Chippewas scoreless for the next three innings before exiting the game. Cihocki allowed 4 earned runs on 7 hits while striking out four.
“Danny (Cihocki) wasn’t sharp today,” Copeland said. “He’s got to be better. He knows that. But he gave us three scoreless after that and got us to the fifth inning.”
NIU extended its lead in the sixth when Spotofora scored Wawaro again, this time on a sacrifice fly out.
A solo shot for Central Michigan in the seventh was the only run allowed by senior pitcher Blake Gaskey, who relieved Cihocki and pitched five innings of one-run ball. Earning his seventh win of the season, Gaskey allowed just three base runners on two hits and a hit by pitch.
“Blake Gaskey was outstanding again,” Copeland said. “He just competes his tail off and finds a way to get it done, regardless of what it looks like.”
An eighth inning double from Spotofora scored Wawro and senior outfielder Caden Robertson, before junior outfielder Marcus Romero’s single scored Spotofora to put NIU up 9-5.
Graduate student infielder Gavin Baldwin capped off the scoring for the Huskies with a solo shot to left field, his second of the series.
Spotofora went 3-for-5 on the day with 5 RBIs, while Wawro went 2-for-3 with 2 walks. Senior infielder Cole Smith went 3-for-5 with an RBI and Romero added 2 RBIs in the win.
Wawro sits fifth in the Mid-American Conference, getting on base at a .510 clip.
“The goal is always to have your entire lineup clicking together, for the most part,” Copeland said. “I feel like we finally found the right type of lineup. What Wyatt’s doing at the top of the lineup with Cole Smith behind him, and you’ve got out 7-8-9 right now of Gavin, Ivan (Dahlberg) and Charlie (Parcell), at any point in the season these guys have been a 1-2-3. So you just feel like one through nine, you have a tough, dangerous lineup and guys who just grind out at bats. I love where we’re at offensively. Coach (Joe) Kelch has done such a good job with those guys and I feel like we’re peaking at the right time.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies round out the series against the Chippewas at noon Sunday in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The game will be streamed on Chippewas All-Access and live stats will be updated on SIDEARM Sports.
“We’ve had a couple of opportunities to sweep opponents, and the truth is that it’s hard to do that in this league. There’s a lot of pride, a lot of good players, a lot of good programs. But if we want to put ourselves in a position to go win the MAC tournament, getting one of those top two seeds is so important. So yeah, it’s a must win game. It’s ironic to say that after you already won the first two games, but we’ve got to convince ourselves that it’s a just win game and find a way to play the best game in the series tomorrow.”
