Pitching was key for NIU baseball this weekend, as it won two out of three games on the road against Eastern Michigan.

“I was really proud of the efforts,” said NIU coach Ed Mathey. “Especially our pitching staff and our defense. They were just tremendous. Probably for 24 of the 27 innings we played, we pitched the ball great and we defended great.”

The Huskies (13-30, 7-11 MAC) shutout the Eagles Friday 1-0, lost Saturday, 7-5, and came back and won game three Sunday 3-1.

In game one, Taylor Nawrocki pitched eight innings, giving up no runs and two hits, while striking out seven batters. In the top of the ninth, with two outs and Alex Jones on second, Alex Klonowski hit a grounder to the third baseman, who overthrew first base, allowing Jones to score the go-ahead run.

NIU closer Kyle Glancy came into the game in the bottom of the ninth and went one, two, three, striking out the final batter to earn his ninth save of the year.

“That was a great college baseball game,” Mathey said. “Both teams pitchers were throwing well, defenses were playing pretty well until the ninth inning, and we took advantage of the one error that they made and we were able to push across that run.”

In game two, the Eagles jumped on the Huskies in the sixth, as they put up five runs, chasing starting pitcher Jake Hermsen from the game.

“If you look at Jake Hermsen, in his first five innings, he was great,” Mathey said. “However, in the sixth inning, Jake lost his zone command and wound up walking, I think, four or five guys.”

In game three Sunday, Tony Manville delivered seven innings and a third, giving up one run on seven hits, while striking out five. Glancy entered the game in the eighth inning with runners on first and third and one out, before he forced a fly out to left and then struck out the next batter.

With the bases loaded in the ninth, Glancy induced a ground ball to second base and Klonowski made the play, throwing the runner out at first.

“He comes in every time with the same mentality that no one is going to hit him,” said NIU catcher Joe Battaglia. “And more times than not, they don’t. That’s the good thing about Kyle: He goes out there with such confidence.”