Sitting in the dugout with crutches, NIU right fielder Brian Toner could only watch as his team dropped the first two games of a weekend series in Oxford, Ohio.

But Toner battled through his knee injury Sunday with two home runs — including an 11th inning blast — to seal a 3-2 victory for the Huskies.

The Huskies (15-19 overall, 6-6 MAC) totaled a mere eight runs against an often-dominant Miami pitching staff in the three-game series. But standing idly by while his team was struggling was just the motivation Toner needed to get back in the game.

“I got extra adrenaline just being out there on the field,” said Toner, who played designated hitter. “I took batting practice [Sunday], and I saw the ball real well and the swing felt good.”

Game no. 3 started ominously as Miami struck in the first inning with a two-run homer by second baseman Geoff Orr. But from that point on, NIU starter Brian Smith settled in and threw six shutout innings.

Miami starter Keith Weiser matched Smith with a nine inning, 11 strikeout performance. But his lone mistake came in the seventh inning as Toner hit a home run to left field to even the score to two.

In the 11th, Toner struck again off reliever Matt Long with another home run to left center. NIU closer Matt German picked up his second win with 2.2 innings of hitless relief.

“Miami has some frontline pitchers who could be All-Americans,” said NIU coach Ed Mathey. “It was important for us to keep it close. Our pitchers did a good job holding them down and Toner hammered those homers for us.”

After the fireworks of the previous game, game no. 2 proved to be a pitcher’s duel as NIU’s Trevor Feeney and Miami’s Graham Taylor shut down the opposing hitters.

Miami struck first again on an RBI double by right fielder Brandon Hillier in the bottom of the third inning. NIU answered immediately in its next at bat as third baseman Jesse Seykora doubled and scored on designated hitter Kyle Pettengell’s single.

The one run proved to be all NIU could muster as Taylor gave up only five hits in 7.2 innings of work. Feeney also pitched tough with a career-high 6.2 innings, but Miami pushed across two more runs in the fourth and sixth inning as the RedHawks held on for a 3-1 win.

In game no. 1, NIU dug itself a quick hole after starter Nick Hall gave up six runs in the opening two innings. The Huskie offense answered back with three runs in the third inning on a one-run double by shortstop Bobby Stevens and a two-run single by pinch hitter Justin Behm.

But that was as close as NIU would get as Miami’s 4-5-6 hitters combined for nine RBIs for the game while NIU’s lineup totaled four hits. Six Huskie errors also were responsible for seven unearned runs as Miami ran away with a 14-4 win.

“We need to get our bats going,” Mathey said. “Not to make an Easter joke, but we have to guard against laying an egg offensively.”