Sloppy play in the field and a lack of clutch hitting accounted for the NIU baseball team dropping two games to Southern Utah in college baseball’s opening weekend.

The Huskies (0-2 overall) committed eight errors in Friday’s doubleheader at Thunderbird Park, losing game one 6-3 and game two 7-5. Inclement weather forced the cancellation of Saturday’s series finale.

Sophomore Jamison Wells paced the Huskies at the plate. The center fielder went 4-for-10 with three RBI in the leadoff spot.

Right-handed pitcher Zach Oates was saddled with a tough-luck loss in the Huskies’ season opener. The senior pitched six innings, giving up one hit and two unearned runs while striking out eight Thunderbirds.

“I got ahead of hitters on Friday. I challenged them in the zone and tried to make them beat me,” Oates said of his opening day performance.

NIU loaded the bases in both the first and second innings of the first game, but only one runner crossed the plate in that span. SUU (2-0) tied the game in the bottom of the second with an unearned run. The Thunderbirds took the lead on another unearned tally in the fifth.

“We’ve been kind of cooped up inside, and seeing the ball off the bat outside for the first time was tough on our defense,” Oates said. “But I have confidence that they’ll pick it up in the next series.”

Redshirt junior Tony Manville relieved Oates in the seventh. The right-handed hurler gave up two runs, only one of which was earned. The Huskies put up a pair of runs in the eighth to make the score 4-3, but the Thunderbirds came right back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. SUU reliever Chase Rezac locked up the win in the top of the ninth.

Game two featured 2010 NIU pitcher of the year Jeremy Gonzales going up against the Thunderbirds’ Justin Neubauer. Gonzales gave up two runs in the first before settling down and pitching four consecutive scoreless innings.

The NIU offense showed up in the fourth when Joe Etcheverry knocked in a run with a single. Wells tied the game at two in the fifth with an RBI double. SUU answered with two runs in the sixth, forcing Gonzales out of the game.

Manville came on in the seventh for his second appearance in as many games. Three Thunderbirds crossed the plate in his two innings of work. 

A three-run rally in the ninth wasn’t enough to keep the Huskies from their second straight loss to start the season.