A rain-induced late start, a 32-minute rain delay in the eighth inning and an 8-8 tie against Purdue-North Central made Tuesday a grueling day for the NIU baseball team.

The 12-inning marathon at Ralph McKinzie Field was called shortly after 7 p.m. due to darkness.

The tie could have easily been a loss were it not for Mike Santoro’s throw from right field to catch Panther baserunner Dustin Waters before he could swipe the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th inning.

Things could have been worse, but not much worse, for NIU baseball coach Ed Mathey.

“We’re out here at home and we can’t close it out – that’s a loss,” Mathey said.

NIU held an 8-6 lead going into the ninth inning, but Purdue-NC pieced together enough hits to score two runs in the top of the inning.

Center fielder Jeremy Busch came close to scoring the winning run for the Huskies. In the 10th inning, Busch launched a two-out double off the left-field fence, then advanced to third on a balk.

But Busch would stay 90 feet away from scoring the winning run. The inning ended on a groundout.

“We just needed someone to find a way to get on and do the simple things,” said Busch, who reached base five times in the game. “Nothing against them, but this ball game shouldn’t have been a tie.”