The Northern Illinois University baseball team dropped two close, competitive games Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Park against the Butler Bulldogs, falling 9-6 in seven innings and 9-8 in nine innings in game two with 10 lead changes in the two games combined.

“We’re playing a lot of close games, and I don’t know if its a good thing or a bad thing,” said head coach Ryan Copeland. “Today was two really tough losses. We fought and clawed in each game. The offense did a great job and it just feels like we can’t find a way to put a game away and go make the right move. We’ll keep fighting through it and try to push the right buttons.”

Game 1

NIU (9-16) put a run on the board in the top of the first inning of the opener. Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill.) led off with a single and, after a flyout, stole second base. Butler catcher Zach Munton threw the ball away on the steal, allowing Parcell to get to third. Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) drove him home with a groundout to put the Huskies up 1-0. Butler took the lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run from Tommy Townsend. NIU responded in the top of the second. Will Couchman (Edina, Minn./NIACC) led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. JP Gauthier (De Pere, Wis./Illinois State) then launched his third home run of the series, a two-run shot, to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead.

Butler (9-17) took the lead back in the bottom of the second on a two-run single off the bat of Jack Moroknek with two outs that put the Bulldogs up 4-3. NIU tied the game 4-4 in the third. Logan Gregorio (Naperville, Ill./Benedictine) led off with a single, getting to third on a Baldwin double. Andrew Smart (Evanston, Ill./Oakton CC) hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Gregorio. The Huskies went up 5-4 on a Couchman groundout that scored Baldwin from third. The Bulldogs tied the game 5-5 in the bottom of the third when a Danny Barbero double scored Townsend. NIU starting pitcher Ty Brachbill (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) retired the next three batters in order to keep the game level.

The Bulldogs took a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the fourth. With a runner at second and two outs Jack Bello laced a single up the middle to score AJ Solomon. Butler put its lead back to two runs in the fifth when Harry Carr scored from third on a wild pitch to make the score 7-5. The Huskies got a run back in the top of the sixth. Couchman reached on a one-out single. After a strikeout, Ben Loyd hit a double to left centerfield that was bobbled by the centerfielder David Ayers which allowed Couchman to score and get NIU within one 7-6. That was as close as the Huskies would get. Butler tacked on two runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 9-6 win.

Seven of the nine Huskies hitters in the game had a hit with Couchman going 2-for-3 with twou runs scored and an RBI. Loyd also was 2-for-3. Brachbill allowed five earned runs in five innings on the mound, striking out five Bulldogs while allowing eight hits.

Game 2

NIU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Baldwin launched his team-leading ninth home run of the season over the left field fence. Butler had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the first. The Bulldogs had runners on the corners with two outs when Max Vaisvila (Villa Park, Ill./Wabash Valley College) struck out Ayers to end the inning. Butler got a two-run double from Solomon and an RBI double by Jack Moroknek in the bottom of the second to take the lead 3-1.

The Huskies tied the game 3-3 in the third. Kaden Kosobucki (West De Pere, Wis./West De Pere) hit a double with one out down the right field line, getting to third base on a throwing error. Parcell then reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Kosobucki and made the score 3-2. Gregorio followed with a double to left centerfield that brought Parcell all the way around from first to score the tying run 3-3. Vaisvila struck out the side in the bottom of the inning, giving the junior lefty six strikeouts through three innings. NIU took back the lead in the top of the fourth when Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) hit a sacrifice fly that scored Smart to make the score 4-3.

Butler went up 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth. The Bulldogs executed a double steal with runners on the corners and two out to tie the game 4-4. An error allowed the go-ahead run to score. Parcell led off the seventh with a base hit, followed by a Gregorio double. Baldwin hit a sacrifice fly to score Parcell and tie the game 5-5. Couchman then hit a two-run home run over the centerfield wall to give NIU a 7-5 lead. Smart then sent a triple down the right field line. Loyd brought Smart in to score with a sacrifice fly that put the Huskies up 8-5.

The Bulldogs cut the NIU lead to one in the bottom of the seventh on a Moroknek two-run home run that put the score at 8-7. Mason Ruh (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran HS) entered the game from the bullpen and promptly struck out Bello and Harry Carr for the first two outs of the inning. Ayers then tied the game 8-8 with a home run.

NIU had the go-ahead run on base in the ninth when Smart hit a one-out double to left center. Jalen House (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) came in to pinch run and advanced to third on a Loyd groundout. He was left on a base when a groundout ended the inning. Moroknek drew a walk with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Bello then hit a double to left center that scored Moroknek all the way from first to give Butler the 9-8 win and the doubleheader sweep.

The Huskies had 12 hits in game two to Butler’s 10 but left eight runners on base. Smart was 3-for-5 in the nightcap with a double and a triple. Couchman’s home run extended his current hitting streak to 12 games. Gregorio and Baldwin each had two hits and combined for three RBI.

NIU and Butler wrap up this weekend’s four-game series on Sunday, March 30. First pitch is at 11 a.m. CT.