NIU was looking for their second consecutive MAC series victory going into Game 2 of Sunday’s doubleheader with Central Michigan.

An NIU victory seemed like a good possibility going into the top of the seventh inning with the Huskies leading 2-1.

NIU (21-23, 12-9 MAC) left-hander Adam Holdenrid pitched 6 2/3 innings before walking pinch-hitter Ricky Clark.

With right-handed hitter Tyler Stovall coming to the plate, NIU head coach Ed Mathey summoned right-hander Dan Atkenson from the bullpen to face the 2007 MAC Player of the Year.

Stovall proceeded to hit a pitch over the left field fence to give the Chippewas (24-21, 11-9 MAC) a 3-2 lead, which would stand for the rest of the game. CMU ultimately prevailed, 7-3.

“Dan’s been lights-out all year,” Holdenrid said. “That kid’s a great hitter and he already saw me three times.”

Mathey opted to play the percentages, but Stovall won the battle.

“Adam Holdenrid pitched an outstanding game,” Mathey said. “The call was made by me to go with the matchup, and unfortunately Danny Atkenson got too much of the plate.”

Central Michigan added four more runs in the top of the eighth against NIU reliever Andy Deain.

“It’s disappointing,” Mathey said. “If you look at their two four-run innings today, in both games, [there were] a lot of walks. That’s a tough thing to do.”

The Huskies got the series started with a 5-2 victory Friday afternoon behind starting pitcher Trevor Feeney. The senior gave up one earned run in eight innings of work to even his record at 4-4 on the season.

“I gave my team a chance to win, threw strikes,” Feeney said. “We got a few big plays in some big situations.”

Game 2, originally scheduled for Saturday, was postponed until Sunday. NIU trailed by one run going into the fifth, but the floodgates opened as Central Michigan was able to bring four runs across the plate. The Chippewas wouldn’t score again until the ninth.

NIU added one run in the sixth and two in the eighth, and the Huskies brought the winning run to the plate in the ninth, but Central Michigan closer Chris Kupillas was able to get Bobby Stevens to fly out to center to earn his sixth save of the season.

“We just didn’t execute and didn’t get the hit when we needed it,” Mathey said. “If you look at the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings of Game 1, we left eight guys on base.”

NIU heads to Muncie, Ind. next weekend to take on Ball State before heading back to DeKalb to conclude its regular season against Northern Iowa on May 12 and Western Michigan on May 15-17.