MUNCIE, IN – The Northern Illinois University baseball team made a late rally against the Ball State Cardinals Saturday at the Ball Diamond at First Merchants Ballpark Complex but fell short 6-5 in seven innings.
NIU (7-26, 6-13 MAC) trailed 6-3 heading into the top of the seventh. With Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) at first and one out, Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) singled to centerfield to give the Huskies runners at the corners. Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) reached on an infield single off Ball State closer Andre Orselli to bring in Joyce from third to make the score 6-4.
Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) followed with a single to load the bases for Brady Huebbe (Peru, Ill./Illinois Valley C.C.). The Cardinals brought in Sam Klein from the bullpen, who gave up a single to Huebbe that scored Smith and got the Huskies within one, 6-5. However, Klein closed the door on NIU's rally with back-to-back strikeouts to give the Cardinals the victory.
"We showed good fight right until the end," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "Unfortunately we came up short. We need to execute and do the little things better, because we left some run-scoring opportunities out there today. We aren't far off but the margin for error in our league is extremely small."
Ball State (24-11, 15-4 MAC) scored five runs with two outs in the bottom of the second, capped by a three-run home run off the bat of Ross Messina, to take a 5-0 lead. NIU got on the board in the top of the third. After Joyce reached on an error, Smith gave the Huskies runners at first and second with a single deep in the hole at shortstop. Dunham then laced a double down the right field line to drive home Joyce and make the score 5-1. Lonteen cleared the bases with a two-RBI single up the middle to make the score 5-3.
The Cardinals extended their lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the fourth on a run-scoring groundout from Adam Tellier. Ball State had a chance to score more with the bases loaded and two out, but reliever Nick Bonk (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) got Ryan Peltier to ground into a fielder's choice to keep it a three-run game.
Bonk threw 2.1 innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts. Smith was 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs. Dunham and Lonteen each went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
The Huskies and Cardinals will wrap up their weekend series on Sunday after rains postponed the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. First pitch of the nine-inning game is at 12 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
--NIU--
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April 25, 2021 at 02:45AM
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Huskies' Rally Comes Up Short At Ball State - Northern Illinois University Athletics
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