After winning five MAC games in a row, NIU hit a school-record seven home runs Sunday, looking for a three-game sweep of Bowling Green.

However, the seven home runs, including three by senior Rob Marconi, weren’t enough to top the Falcons for the third straight time as Bowling Green triumphed 11-10.

Marconi’s three home runs tied the school record set by Mike Santoro last season against Iowa. Marconi, NIU’s career home run leader with 32, now has 10 home runs on the season.

“Rob [Marconi] was locked in, and it was impressive to see,” NIU coach Ed Mathey said. “It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get anyone on base ahead of him so he could have done more damage.”

Mike Hochhauser, Mike Brown, Scott Simon and Greg Larsen also hit home runs for the Huskies.

Bowling Green tallied 21 hits in the game.

“The wind was blowing out a little, and it was a warm day, so conditions were favorable for hitters,” Mathey said.

In the seventh, NIU enjoyed a 7-3 lead, but Bowling Green rallied for two runs in the bottom of the inning and five runs in the eighth inning to take a 10-7 lead.

Simon and Marconi hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth to tie the game at 10, but Falcons player David Barkholz led off the ninth with a game-winning home run to give the Falcons an 11-10 win.

NIU 9, Bowling Green 7

The Huskies jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning Saturday, sparked by a lead-off, solo home run from Jeremy Busch in the first inning.

The Falcons fought back, tying the game at six in the seventh inning, but NIU responded an inning later with two runs on an RBI double by Josh Owens and a sacrifice fly by Marconi.

NIU 9, Bowling Green 6

Holding the lead in the ninth inning Friday, NIU looked to seal the first of three games against the Falcons, but Bowling Green came back to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth with four consecutive singles.

In the 11th inning, Anthony Venetucci led off with a single, and Owens followed with a walk. Larsen then hit a two-out single to drive in both runners.

Simon drove in his 51st run of the season by hitting Larsen home on a single.