Another rough day in the field put a damper on any joy that came from the NIU baseball team‘s 8-5 win over Bradley on Wednesday evening.

NIU (11-15 overall, 4-2 MAC) committed three errors for the second straight game, but some clutch hitting spurred a win over the Braves at Ralph McKinzie Field. The Huskies weren’t as fortunate on Tuesday, when three miscues came back to haunt them in a 7-4 loss to Illinois State.

“We did the same thing yesterday,” said NIU head coach Ed Mathey of Tuesday’s miscues. “Except today, things turned out a little different for us, and that makes you feel a little better. But the fact remains: We can’t keep committing this many errors and expect to win ball games.”

The difference on Wednesday was that the Braves gave nearly as many opportunities to the Huskies as they were given themselves. Bradley (18-9) issued seven walks, and committed a key error in the first inning that allowed the Huskies to take a 3-0 lead.

NIU scored six runs in the first three innings, giving starter Tony Manville a 6-1 cushion to work with. Manville pitched four innings and gave up only one run, but the right-hander issued four of the nine walks from Huskie pitching.

The NIU bullpen kept the Braves at bay for the most part until the eighth inning, when left-hander Tom Zelasko gave up two runs and left two men on base for Kyle Glancy. A hard line out to center field from Austin Jarvis got Glancy out of the inning, and kept the Huskies’ 8-5 lead intact.

“We had opportunities all day,” said Bradley head coach Elvis Dominguez. “We couldn’t come through, while their guys did when we gave them chances. We didn’t do a good job on the mound either.”