DeKalb Times

The Northern Illinois University baseball team scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning Monday to tie the Murray State Racers 5-5, but Murray State scored twice in the bottom half and hung on for a 7-6 win at Reagan Field.

 

"It's a tough loss, but it was the first time early on this season that we saw the team we've been coaching since late August," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "We saw the bats come alive and were one hit away multiple times from pulling away."

 

NIU (0-8) trailed 5-2 going into the eighth inning. Aaron Harper (Hemet, Calif./Mt. San Jacinto College) started the rally with a one-out infield single, followed by a Mason Kelley (Mt. Washington, Ky./Schoolcraft College) walk. Kaden Kosobucki (West De Pere, Wis./West De Pere) loaded the bases with a single to right field. Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) followed with a two-run single to left field, scoring Harper and Kelley to make the score 5-4. After a popout, Paxton Kennedy (Mendota, Ill./Illinois Valley C.C.) tied the game 5-5 with a single up the middle to score Kasobucki.

 

Murray State (7-0) took back the lead in the bottom half of the eighth, as an Alex Crump RBI groundout and Seth Gardner RBI single gave the Racers a 7-5 lead. NIU's last chance to tie the game in the ninth started with an Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) leadoff walk. Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland C.C.) then laced a single down the right field line to get Erato to third. Harper then grounded into a double play which scored Erato and got the Huskies within a run at 7-6. Kelley drew a walk, followed by a Kosobucki single that put the go-ahead run on base with two outs. However, Murray State reliever Alec Whaley got a strikeout to end the game and give the Racers the 7-6 win.

 

The Huskies took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Catcher Scott Combs (Northville, Mich./Michigan State) drove in his first run as a Huskie with a sacrifice fly for NIU's first run. Paddy McKermitt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) followed with a single to centerfield that scored the Huskies' second run. Murray State put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, scoring four times to take a 4-2 lead.

 

Kelley was 2-for-3 at the plate for NIU with two walks and two runs scored. Kosobucki and Barnes also had two hits in the game. Peters was 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBI. Connor Langreder (West De Pere, Wis./West De Pere) started the game on the mound for NIU and went four innings, allowing four runs on two hits with four walks and two strikeouts. Sam Pederson (Verona, Wis./McHenry C.C.) went four innings out of the bullpen, allowing three runs on three hits.

 

The Huskies open a three-game series at Lipscomb on Friday, March 4 at 4 p.m.