OXFORD, OH – The Northern Illinois University baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Miami RedHawks Saturday at McKie Field at Hayden Park, falling 3-1 in 11 innings in game one and 7-6 in game two.
Game one was a pitcher's duel through the first five innings. NIU's Brandon McPherson (Chicago, Ill./Wabash Valley College) and Miami's Sam Bachman combined to strike out 15 batters in the first three innings with neither pitcher allowing a hit. The Huskies got their first hits of the game in the top of the fourth off of RedHawks reliever Jacob Webb. Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) led off with a single. After a strikeout, Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) singled through the left side of the infield for NIU's second hit of the game. Webb then got a pair of flyouts to get out of the inning.
NIU (4-14, 3-4 MAC) finally broke through in the sixth when Lonteen doubled with one out and scored on a single by Smith to make it a 1-0 game. The RedHawks responded in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Benji Brokemond led off the inning with a single, stole second base, then advanced to third on a Nate Stone sacrifice fly. Will Vogelgesang followed with a triple to plate Brokemond and knot the game up at 1-1.
Neither team could score in the seventh and the Huskies headed to extras for the third time this season. The teams traded zeroes for the next three innings before NIU tried to mount a rally in the 11th. Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) doubled to lead off the frame and was replaced by pinch-runner Wade Rankin (Columbus, Ind./Kankakee CC), who moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland CC). Rankin was stranded there, however, as the next two hitters struck out to end the threat.
Miami (13-8, 6-1 MAC) needed just two hitters to end the game in the bottom of the 11th. Dalton Back singled to left-center, and Stone followed with a two-run homer as the RedHawks walked it off for the second straight game.
McPherson gave up just one run in 6.1 innings of work, allowing four hits while striking out nine to tie a career-high. Nate Thomas (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) came on and threw 3.2 innings with six strikeouts before allowing the two runs in the ninth to take the loss.
"Brandon and Nate did a great job battling the entire game on the mound," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "We ran into a couple arms that you don't see everyday and couldn't find a way to scratch another run in the limited opportunities we had. We need to find ways to win these tight games."
NIU got off to a fast start in the nightcap. With one out, Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) hit a single off of Miami starting pitcher Jonathan Brand followed by a Lonteen walk. Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) put the Huskies on the board with his fourth home run of the year, a three-run shot, to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead.
Connor Langreder (West De Pere, Wis./West De Pere) did his part to keep NIU in front, allowing just one hit over the first two innings. NIU tacked on a run in the top of the third on a Jacob Schroeder (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) sacrifice fly that gave the Huskies a 4-0 lead. The RedHawks responded with three runs in the bottom of the third to make the score 4-3. Lonteen put NIU back up by three when his two-run single in the fourth made the score 6-3.
Miami (13-8, 6-1 MAC) got back within one run in the bottom of the fourth when back-to-back run-scoring singles by Dalton Back and Nate Stone made the score 6-5. The RedHawks tied the game 6-6 in the sixth on an RBI double by Benji Brokemond, then took the lead 7-6 two batters later on an RBI groundout from Stone. The Huskies got two hits in the top of the seventh but could not get the tying run across home plate as Miami won game two 7-6.
The two teams wrap up their weekend series on Sunday at 12 p.m.
--NIU--
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March 28, 2021 at 07:56AM
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NIU Drops Pair At Miami Saturday - Northern Illinois University Athletics
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