Defending MAC Champion Kent State arrived in DeKalb on Friday looking for its first conference victory.

The Golden Flashes (11-15 overall, 1-5 MAC) were in for a rude awakening, as NIU (12-15, 5-4) won the series, taking two of three games.

The Huskies’ offense had struggled lately, but turned it around this weekend. NIU drilled out a season-high 17 hits in Friday’s 11-6 victory.

Saturday’s matchup featured a pitcher’s duel, which the Huskies won 3-2 on a walk-off single in the ninth. NIU pumped out 13 hits Sunday, but it was not enough as it fell 9-5 to KSU.

“Coming in with defending MAC champs to win the series, that’s really good,” said NIU catcher Justin Behm. “After last weekend and the struggles we had, it was really big to win that series. I think we did an overall pretty good job.”

Friday

The Huskies pounded out a season-high four home runs in Friday’s win. Two of the round-trippers belonged to Behm, who went 3-4 with five RBIs. The catcher also hit the first triple of his career in the third inning.

“Sometimes, you just have those days where you’re just locked in at the plate,” Behm said. “I was able to put a swing on some balls and I’m glad to be able to help the team in those situations.”

NIU jumped out to a quick five-run lead in the first. While the Golden Flashes tried to battle back, it was not enough.

Huskie third baseman Jordin Hood and right fielder Danny Reed also homered in the contest. Hood batted 4-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored.

Starter Trevor Feeney went the distance for the third time in his career Friday. The senior gave up 10 hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

Saturday

NIU won a dramatic walk-off victory for the second time in three games with Jeff Thomas’ infield single in the bottom of the ninth. The winning single scored outfielder Anthony Maziur.

Maziur was on base, as he was called in to pinch run for designated hitter Brian Smith. NIU second baseman Marvin Sanchez then advanced Maziur to second with a bunt. A groundout moved Maziur to third, which then set up the game-winning hit.

NIU starter Adam Holdenrid dueled with KSU’s Chris Carpenter for over six innings. The senior allowed seven hits and only one earned run, while notching four strikeouts. Carpenter went six innings, allowed three hits and two runs and tallied 11 strikeouts.

“Adam threw the ball very well and he gave us a chance to win,” said NIU head coach Ed Mathey. “He threw strikes and he made some big pitches when he needed to.”

Sunday

Huskie pitching struggled in the series finale. NIU starter Matt Jernstad pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks.

“Jernstad has had good outings and today wasn’t one of them,” Mathey said. “He just got behind too many hitters today and free passes hurt you. Of their nine runs, four of those runners got on either by walk or hit-by-pitch. You get those runs back and you’re possibly talking about sweeping.”

KSU scored four runs in the third inning and followed with two in the fourth, which made the score 6-2. The Golden Flashes then picked up an extra run in the eighth, and in the bottom of the frame, the Huskies tried to mount a comeback.

NIU scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to come within two runs. KSU scored twice more in the ninth and the Huskies were unable to bounce back.

“It was a good weekend, but not a great weekend,” Mathey said “You always want to win your last game and we weren’t able to do that today, but we got back above the .500 mark.”