A four-run fifth inning proved to be the difference Saturday afternoon as the Ball State Cardinals defeated the Northern Illinois University baseball team 8-3 at Shebek Stadium.

“Today was much like yesterday,” said head coach Ryan Copeland. “We were playing catch-up early against a really good starter and a really good team that plays defense it gets hard to battle back. We had our chances but we just ran out of time.”

NIU (12-21, 3-11 MAC) had eight hits in the game but struck out nine times. Logan Gregorio (Naperville, Ill./Benedictine) extended his current hitting streak to 11 games with a two-out double in the fifth inning. JP Gauthier (De Pere, Wis./Illinois State) and Will Couchman (Edina, Minn./NIACC) each had two hits for the Huskies.

Ball State (25-11, 12-2 MAC) took the early lead in the bottom of the first. Dylan Grego doubled down the right field line with one out. Nick Husovsky then reached on an infield single, with a throwing error allowing Grego to score to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Ty Brachbill (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) got out of the inning with a pair of groundouts. NIU had an opportunity to tie the game in the top of the second. Gauthier led off with a double down the left field line. A Ben Loyd (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kaskaskia College) flyout advanced Gauthier to third with one out. Just like Brachbill did in the previous half inning, Ball State’s Jacob Hartlaub retired the next two batters to end the threat.

The Cardinals extended their lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the third on a two-run home run from Alex Richter. NIU got on the board in the top of the fourth. Gauthier led off with his second double. After a popout an Andrew Smart (Evanston, Ill./Oakton CC) flyout got Gauthier to third base with two outs. A Hartlaub wild pitch allowed Gauthier to score to get the Huskies within two at 3-1. Ball State got that run back in the bottom of the inning. Gavin Balius hit a single to centerfield with runners at the corners and two out to bring in the Cardinals’ fourth run of the game.

Ball State pulled away in the fifth inning, scoring four runs to go up 8-1. Grego led off with a home run as Balius, Blake Bevis and Ty Davis each drove in a run as well. The Huskies put a run on the board in the top of the sixth. With runners at the corners and one out, Smart hit a fly ball down the right field line that Husovsky tracked down into foul ground from second base, which allowed Will Couchman (Edina, Minn./NIACC) to score from third to make the score 8-2. NIU also scored in the ninth when an error by centerfielder John Colligan allowed pinch-runner Jalen House (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) to score from second base and make the final score 8-3.

NIU’s Nick Bassi (Zionsville, Ind./St. Charles CC), Alex Day (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) and Clayton Taylor (Columbus, Ind./Kaskaskia College) threw 3.1 innings of scoreless relief on Saturday. Day and Taylor combined to allow just two hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

“I’ve been pleased with our bullpen, both yesterday and today,” Copeland said. “They did a good job of keeping us in the game and giving us a chance all the way through the later portion of the game. We’ve got to find a way to beat somebody. They’re [Ball State] not going to beat themselves, and that takes a really good start from a starting pitcher to go do that and we’ve got to find that tomorrow.”

This weekend’s series wraps up on Sunday, April 13 at 12 p.m. CT.