The Northern Illinois University baseball team rallied from a seven-run deficit to take a 13-12 lead on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies Friday afternoon at Oakland Baseball Field, but Oakland scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to come away with a 16-14 win in game one of Friday's doubleheader. Game two was suspended after four innings and will resume Saturday at 1 p.m.
"We showed what we're capable of at the plate today," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "Game one was a very high-scoring game. We battled back to take the lead but unfortunately couldn't find a way to hold on."
NIU (6-26) struck first in game one, scoring two runs in the top of the second. The Huskies loaded the bases on an Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) double, a Scott Combs (Northville, Mich./Michigan State) single and Johnson getting hit by a pitch. Oakland starting pitcher Brett Hagen then hit Mason Kelley (Mt. Washington, Ky./Schoolcraft College) to give NIU a 1-0 lead. Aaron Harper (Hemet, Calif./Mt. San Jacinto College) followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Combs to put the Huskies up 2-0. Oakland quickly answered in the bottom of the inning, scoring six times with a Brad Goulet two-run home run with two outs giving the Golden Grizzlies a 6-2 lead. The Golden Grizzlies tacked on two runs in the third and another in the fourth to go ahead 9-2.
The Huskies rallied in the fifth. Barnes started the comeback with a one-out double, followed by an Erato single. Combs drove in Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland CC) with a single to left center, making the score 9-3. Brandon Johnson (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Twp.) followed with a double that scored Erato and put the score at 9-4. Kelley then hit into a fielder's choice with third baseman throwing home to keep Combs from scoring for the second out. Harper cleared the bases with a two-run single to cut the deficit to three, 9-6. Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) then hit a single to left. Oakland then went to the bullpen for Hunter Pidek. Carlos Aranda (Santo Domingo, D.R./Ellsworth CC) welcomed him to the game by launching a three-run home run over the left centerfield fence, tying the game 9-9.
Oakland (16-16) took back the lead in the bottom half of the sixth. A two-run single from Jared Miller and an RBI single off the bat of Brenton Phillips put the Golden Grizzlies up 12-9. NIU got a run back in the top of the seventh when Aranda delivered a two-out RBI single to score Demetral from third and make the score 12-10. Erato and Combs both reached base to lead off the top of the eighth. After a fielder's choice for the first out, Kelley launched a three-run home run over the left field wall to give NIU a 13-12 lead. The Huskies had a chance to build on the lead after a Harper single, but Demetral hit into a double play to end the inning.
The Golden Grizzlies tied the game 13-13 in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run off the bat of Phillips. Brandon Heidal then drew a walk off of NIU reliever Tommy Meyer (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa East), followed by Thomas Green with a single to left field. Gabe Lux cleared the bases with a triple to right center, giving Oakland a 15-13 lead. Liam Pollock then put down a squeeze bunt that scored Lux and put the Golden Grizzlies up 16-13.
NIU made one last gasp effort to tie the game in the ninth. Aranda and Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) drew back-to-back walks leading off the inning. After a flyout and a strikeout, Combs singled through the left side to score Aranda and make the score 16-14. Jonatham Latham (Mahomet, Ill./Danville Area CC) then drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Oakland reliever Christian Stelling closed the game by getting Kelley to ground out to wrap up a 16-14 win.
Eight of the nine Huskies in the starting lineup had a hit in game one. Erato was 4-for-6 in the game with two runs scored in the opener. Aranda and Kelley both had four RBI as Harper went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
The Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the seven-inning nightcap on an Erato RBI double. Oakland responded by sending 10 batters to the plate in the bottom half of the frame, scoring six runs to take a 6-1 lead. NIU cut the deficit to two in the top of the second, as run-scoring doubles by Latham and Paddy McKermitt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) and a Demetral RBI infield single made the score 6-4. Oakland got back-to-back home runs from Goulet and Miller to lead off its half of the second to take an 8-4 lead. The Golden Grizzlies tacked on another run in the fourth to go up 9-4 before the game was suspended.
NIU and Oakland will resume the second game of Friday's doubleheader at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday, April 16, followed by the regularly scheduled game.
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