The Northern Illinois University baseball team could not keep up with the high-powered offense of the Toledo Rockets Thursday afternoon in a 23-4 loss at Scott Park.
Toledo (12-13, 7-3 MAC) took a 2-0 lead after two innings after a Garrett Pike home run in the bottom of the first and a Brayden White long ball in the second. The Huskies got a run back in the top of the third. JP Gauthier (De Pere, Wis./Illinois State) drew a walk with one out, advancing to second base on an Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) groundout. Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) ripped a single through the left side of the infield to bring in Gauthier and make the score 2-1.
The Rockets responded with five runs in the bottom of the third. A Pike three-run home run and a two-run shot from Luke Walton put Toledo up 7-1. Toledo starting pitcher Grant Umberger retired the Huskies in order in the fourth. The Rockets put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the inning to take a 10-1 lead, followed by a five-run fifth to go up 15-1.
NIU (9-17, 5-5 MAC) put two runs on the board in the top of the seventh. The Huskies loaded the bases on three consecutive walks to Gauthier, Erato and Summerhill. With one out in the inning, CJ Cepicky (St. Louis, Mo./Missouri) beat out a fielder’s choice that scored Gauthier. Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) then hit a single up the middle to drive in Erato, his fourth RBI in the last five games. Parker Shupe (Johnston, Iowa/Kirkwood CC) drove in a run in the top of the ninth on a bases-loaded walk.
“I think the sign of a tough team is to wake up tomorrow and be able to go the ballpark as if today didn’t happen,” said head coach Ryan Copeland. “I’ve very anxious and curious to see how we’ll come out tomorrow. I’ve been on both sides of games like this in my career. Tomorrow is an opportunity to see our resolve and how tough we are.”
Cepicky was 2-for-4 in the game with an RBI for his second multi-hit game of the season. Gauthier scored twice on the day, giving him 12 runs scored over his last nine games.
The two teams play the second game of this week’s series on Friday, March 29 at 2 p.m. CT.