Northern Illinois snaps baseball’s five-game win streak
After taking the first two games in DeKalb, the Central Michigan baseball team dropped game three to Northern Illinois before heading home to Mount Pleasant.
The Chippewas (7-16-1) fell to the Huskies (6-16) by four runs, 9-5, on March 25 at Ralph McKinzie Field, snapping CMU’s five-game winning streak.
“Today is the one we wanted to win,” said CMU head coach Steve Jaksa. “I thought we just left a couple doors open and they were able to come through. Our bullpen, which has been pretty good, wasn’t good today.
“It’s a bad taste in your mouth.”
In the bottom of the first inning, Northern Illinois struck first on a sacrifice fly from sophomore infielder Tommy Szcasny to score senior infielder Brad Wood, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead. One inning later, Wood drove in redshirt junior outfielder Hunter Bross on an RBI single.
Sophomore catcher Jake Dunham drew a walk, automatically scoring Wood. The next batter, senior outfielder Scooter Bynum, ripped a two-RBI single to right field, pushing the NIU lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the fifth.
CMU left-handed starting pitcher Tyler Hankins was pulled after 4.2 innings of work. He allowed four earned runs on seven hits and two walks. Hankins earned four strikeouts.
After Bross drew a walk for the Huskies, redshirt junior infielder Ty Jandrowski drove in three runs on a double to center field. The three-RBI double off CMU senior right-handed reliever Colton Bradley broke the flood gates in favor of Northern Illinois, 8-0.
“We lost the ball in the sun and it scored three runs,” Jaksa said. “There were two outs and it just got lost. That’s just a fly ball to center field and we couldn’t find it.”
Freshman pitcher Michael Lasiewicz tossed a gem for the Huskies, logging 5.0 innings of scoreless baseball. He allowed five hits and four walks, but never let a run cross the plate. Lasiewicz struck out six batters.
The Chippewas got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning against freshman pitcher Jack Phillips on junior outfielder Daniel Robinson’s first home run of the 2018 season. His two-run shot cut CMU’s deficit to six runs.
“I’m just to the place now where he needs to play every game,” Jaksa said. “He doesn’t need to read anything or talk to anybody.
“He had a good day and needs to continue. That’s the biggest thing.”
Northern Illinois’ lead was chopped to 8-5 by CMU on RBIs from redshirt freshman third baseman Chase Rollin and junior outfielder Jacob Crum against sophomore pitcher Nate Thomas. With a runner on second and third in the top of the seventh, Robinson flew out to end the inning.
“We needed a couple more hits there,” Jaksa said. “We had second and third with two outs. One more hit makes it an 8-7 game and the momentum is totally on our side. We couldn’t get there today.”
Thomas faced eight batters in 1.0 innings, giving up three runs (one earned run) on three hits and one walk, while striking out two.
The Huskies tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, increasing the lead to four runs. Northern Illinois’ 9-5 edge held steady to the final out.
Senior left-hander Braxton Markle and sophomore righty Cameron Brown threw the final 1.2 innings for CMU and only allowed one walk. The duo faced seven hitters.
Up Next
Central Michigan will head to Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor for a battle against Michigan on March 28 at 4 p.m. Earlier this season, Michigan lost 8-3 to Lawrence Tech, a team CMU defeated by 13 runs.
Last season, CMU went 1-2 against the Wolverines. In the game at Theunissen Stadium in Mount Pleasant, the Chippewas earned a 4-3 win.
“It’s an in-state rival,” Jaska said. “We beat them the last time we played them, so I’m sure they remember that. We need to get back on track with the way we play. That’s really it.”
