Tuesday's Baseball Results
Northern Illinois 2, Purdue 1
Western Michigan 5, Notre Dame 4
Kent State 13, Mercyhurst 3
Central Michigan 16, Purdue Fort Wayne 3
Ball State 14, Bellarmine 1
Michigan 13, Eastern Michigan 2
Cincinnati 6, Miami 4
Dayton 6, Akron 4
Youngstown State 13, Toledo 3
Morehead State 4, Ohio 3
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Northern Illinois 2, Purdue 1
Box Score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Northern Illinois University baseball team defeated a Big Ten team for the second straight season on Wednesday, earning a 2-1 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers at Alexander Field.
"This is a great win for our program," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "Everybody that follows our program knows we've been struggling a bit, especially on the mound. For us to bounce back against a really good team in Purdue is a really good thing for us."
Purdue (20-8) entered the game averaging 9.1 runs per game which puts it 23rd in the nation in scoring. The NIU pitching staff held the Boilermakers to one run on six hits, recording 11 strikeouts. Senior Mason Ruh (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran HS) threw two scoreless innings to start the game, allowing three hits with a walk and two strikeouts and earned the win. Danny Cihocki (Princeton, Ill./Lake Land College) got his third save, throwing the final two innings allowing no runs on one hit with four strikeouts.
"We pitched the way we're capable of doing and played outstanding defense," Copeland said. "I challenged our guys before the game to be better and to do your job and just focus on winning and they responded in a big way."
NIU (10-17) opened the scoring in the top of the second inning when JP Gauthier (De Pere, Wis./Illinois State) led off with a home run over the left field wall. It was his fourth home run in the last five games. Purdue threatened to score in the bottom of the second. Breck Nowik and Houston Russell hit back-to-back singles with one out. Ruh got Brandon Rogers to foul out to catcher Kyle Hartmann (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) for the second out. Russell stole second to give the Boilermakers two runners in scoring position, but Ruh struck out Camden Gasser to end the inning.
The Huskies held Purdue scoreless for the first four innings. After two scoreless innings from Ruh, Nick Bassi (Zionsville, Ind./St. Charles CC) threw a scoreless third with a strikeout. John Lyman (Minneapolis, Minn./NIACC) retired the side in order in the fourth. The Boilermakers loaded the bases with one out in the fifth on three walks. Lyman induced an infield fly from designated hitter Logan Sutter for the second out. Spence then grounded out to end the inning.
Clayton Taylor (Columbus, Ind./Kaskaskia College) entered the game on the mound in the sixth for NIU. The junior struck out both Breck Nowik and Russell to start the inning. Rogers reached on an error, then stole second base and got to third on a throwing error on the steal. Taylor bounced back from a walk to Gasser to get Albert Choi to fly out to end the frame.
NIU extended its lead in the top of the seventh. Andrew Smart (Evanston, Ill./Oakton CC) was hit by a Vallone pitch with one out. Gauthier then laced a double down the left field line as Smart scored all the way from first to put the Huskies up 2-0. Purdue got that run back in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs Sutter hit a home run over the left field fence off of NIU reliever Carter Cox (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt South) to make the score 2-1. Cox struck out Spence to end the inning.
Cihocki entered the game in the eighth and struck out the side. He got his fourth strikeout of the game as the first out of the ninth. Pinch-Hitter Avery Moore hit a single to left field to put the tying run on base for Purdue. The Huskies locked up the win with a double play, as Lucas Cook hit a groundball to second baseman Will Couchman (Edina, Minn./NIACC) who flipped the ball to shortstop Ben Loyd (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kaskaskia College) at second who then relayed to Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) at first base.
"When you get a groundball with a guy on first, you have to find a way to turn a double play," said Copeland. "That was something we struggled with early but we moved some guys around positionally on the infield and we've done a really good job up the middle. When we got that grounder in the ninth and had a chance to end the game, we got a great turn and got it done."
Gauthier had two of NIU's four hits in the game and drove in both runs. This is the Huskies' first win against the Boilermakers in West Lafayette and just the second in the series between the two teams. It is NIU's third win over a Power 5 program in the last two years. The Huskies won at both Cincinnati and Northwestern in 2024.
Western Michigan 5, Notre Dame 4
Box Score
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Western Michigan baseball team took down Notre Dame, 5-4, on Tuesday evening, giving the Broncos a victory over a Power Conference opponent for the third consecutive week.
As had been the case in the victories over Michigan and Northwestern over the last two weeks, pitching was the story for Western Michigan on Tuesday evening. Zach Vriesenga got the ball rolling for the Broncos, yielding just one hit over 3.0 scoreless frames.
Adam Lehmann followed Vriesenga in the fourth, and DJ Thompson then tossed a scoreless fifth.
Aiden Hinds came on in the sixth, and held the Fighting Irish off of the scoreboard over his first three frames. The right-hander worked a career-high 3.1 innings and collected the first win of his collegiate career on the mound.
With the Broncos leading 5-1, Notre Dame put together a rally in the ninth. The Fighting Irish scored three to close the gap to one, and had the bases loaded with one out. Jake Gernon then induced a grounder right back to the mound and started a game-ending 1-2-3 double play to seal the victory and notch his first career save.
After a scoreless first three innings on both sides, Western Michigan broke the ice in the fourth. Grady Mee led off with a single, stole second and then came around on an RBI single by Dylan Nevar.
Notre Dame came right back in the home half, picking up a pair of doubles to even the score at 1-1.
The Broncos regained the lead with a pair in the fifth. Mee brought Brendan Harrity in to put WMU back in front, and Nevar then sent a base hit up the middle to score Tanner Mally and make it 3-1.
Mee then plated two more in the eighth with a two-out, two-run single which stretched the margin to 5-1.
Kent State 13, Mercyhurst 3
Box Score
KENT- The Kent State Golden Flashes baseball team took care of business against the Mercyhurst Lakers on Apr. 1 by a score of 13-3.
Mercyhurst would open the scoring in the top of the first bringing two runs across the plate.
Kent State would tie up the score in the bottom of the first on a RBI triple into right centerfield off the bat of Hayden Jatczak and a RBI groundout by Jake Casey.
Three more runs would come in for the Flashes in the bottom of the second thanks to a two-run triple by Micah Rienstra-Kiracofe and a Jatczak RBI double up the left field line. Brody Williams would bring in two more runs in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer over the wall in left field.
The Flashes would strike for three more runs in the fourth. Kiracofe would bring in the Flashes' eighth run of the day on an RBI single up the line in left field. A few batters later Casey would drive in Kiracofe with a RBI triple. Casey would come into score just a few batters later on a Williams RBI single.
The Lakers got one run in the top of the fifth but that would be all the Flashes would let cross the plate.
Kent State would deliver the final blow in the bottom of the eighth to enact the ten run-rule. Luke Matthews would score on a wild pitch, Kiracofe would score on another Jatczak RBI double and would come into score on a Sawyer Solitaria walk off RBI single.
Ciaran Caughey got the start on the mound and pitched well going four innings allowing just two runs on two hits, and striking out five. Jordan Kolenda would be the first man out of the bullpen for the Flashes. Caden Leonard would pitch the final two innings of the game allowing just one hit and striking out four Lakers.
Central Michigan 16, Purdue Fort Wayne 3
Box Score
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Central Michigan collected 14 hits and used a pair of big innings in topping Purdue Fort Wayne, 16-3, on Tuesday in a non conference baseball game at the Mastodon Field.
The game was called after seven innings on the run rule. CMU (11-18), which snapped a three-game losing streak, returns to Theunissen Stadium for a three-game Mid-American Conference series this weekend with Kent State.
The Golden Flashes are 15-11, 7-2 MAC and tied for third place. CMU is 5-4 in league play and sixth.
Cole Kwiatkowski had three hits and Aydin Wright doubled twice and drove in four runs to lead CMU at the plate.
Aaron Piasecki, Rees Campanale, Wright and Zach Knowlton finished with two hits apiece.
The Chippewas scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never trailed. They led 5-3 and then blew the game open with an 11-run sixth inning.
CMU sent 16 batters to the plate and collected seven hits off four Purdue Fort Wayne pitchers. The Mastodons committed three errors in the frame and seven in the game.
CMU starter Hayden Bailey (2-1) allowed three runs on five hits over four innings for the victory. Quin Konuszewski, Jack Otis and Jack Bach each pitched an inning of relief.
Ball State 14, Bellarmine 1
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State baseball team put up nine runs in the third inning on its way to a 14-1 win over Bellarmine on Tuesday afternoon at Shebek Stadium.
The Cardinals (20-10) scored once in the first frame and three times in the second before the big third inning to gain separation over the Knights (6-22). Ball State tacked on a run in sixth for the final scoring of the day to run-rule Bellarmine in seven innings.
After the visitors got on the board with a sacrifice fly in the top half of the first, Alex Richter hit an RBI triple to score Gavin Balius and tie the game in the bottom half of the frame. Brayden Huebner (triple), Balius (single) and Dylan Grego (single) each had RBI knocks in the second to extend the advantage for the hosts to 4-1.
Ball State batted around and then some in the third, as seven different Cardinals drove in runs in that inning alone. Grego and Max Kalk drove in a pair of runs each on a single by Grego and a double from Kalk.
Evan Shapiro (1-0) struck out four in two perfect innings out of the bullpen to earn his first win of the year. Garrett Harker, Will Jacobson and Brendan Garza followed that up with shutout innings of their own for a Ball State pitching staff that allowed the one run and two hits.
Huebner went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored in his collegiate debut, while Balius, Grego and Kalk had multiple hits and multiple RBI each on the day.
