DeKALB | Missed opportunities plagued the Huskies on Sunday afternoon as they dropped a 4-2 decision in the rubber match of a three-game series against MAC West-leading Eastern Michigan.

“Every win in the MAC is a big win,” said coach Ed Mathey. “A win against Eastern Michigan is good because the teams below us still have to play Eastern [Michigan] and Central [Michigan].”

In Sunday’s series-deciding game, EMU took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth off a two-out three-run homer by Eagles first baseman Patrick Deam. However, all the runs were unearned as two Huskie errors fueled the scoring.

NIU starter Mark Badgley went 7.1 innings, giving up only one earned run while striking out a career-high 10 batters.

“Mark Badgley was pretty incredible for us today and we wasted his gem,” Mathey said. “Our four errors hurt us and we missed some opportunities offensively.”

In game one on Friday, NIU got on the board first in the bottom of the third with a two-out single from Pat Minogue. However, the Eagles answered in their half of the fourth with two runs, and that’s all they would need as they posted a 6-1 victory over NIU.

The Huskie bats exploded for 14 hits en route to an 11-1 win in game two on Saturday. NIU scored three runs in the bottom of the second off hits from Simon, Matt Behren and Daniel Jewett. NIU added two runs in the fifth, three in the sixth, and three in the seventh to complete the blowout.