The Northern Illinois University baseball team nearly came back from a 6-0 deficit Friday afternoon against the Ball State Cardinals at Shebek Stadium, leaving the tying run on base in the ninth in a 7-5 loss.

 “I thought we competed in the box today as well as we have all year despite the loss,” said head coach Ryan Copeland. “I was really happy with our offense and the way they competed. We had some really good at-bats with the wind blowing in. We were all over the barrel and competed real hard, and unfortunately we were just a hit or two shy from coming back.”

 Ball State (24-11, 11-2 MAC) opened the scoring in the bottom of the second. Garrett Arnold led off with an infield single, followed by a Blake Bevis walk. A Ty Davis single to left field loaded the bases with no outs. Clay Jacobs drove in Arnold with a single through the right side to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Brayden Huebner then reached on an error that scored the second run of the inning. Gavin Balius made the score 4-0 with a two-run single. NIU starting pitcher Adam Brouwer (Tinley Park, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) struck out a pair in the inning to get out of it.

 NIU (12-20, 3-10 MAC) had a chance to get back in the game in the top of the third. Charlie Parcell (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) drew a walk with one out. Ball State starting pitcher Keegan Johnson then hit Kaden Kosobucki (West De Pere, Wis./West De Pere) with a pitch to give NIU two runners on base. Johnson bounced back by getting a flyout and a strikeout to end the frame. Ball State put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the third a Huebner two-run single to go up 6-0.

 The Huskies put a crooked number on the board in the top of the fourth inning. Ben Loyd (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kaskasia College) and Andrew Smart (Evanston, Ill./Oakton CC) hit back-to-back singles with one out, advancing one base on a Will Couchman (Edina, Minn./NIACC). Ryan Birr (Brownsburg, Ind./SIU) drew a walk to load the bases. Parcell drove in two runs with a single to centerfield, making the score 6-2. After a Kosobucki walk, Logan Gregorio (Naperville, Ill./Benedictine) hit a ground ball up the middle that Huebner at second base couldn’t handle, allowing Birr and Parcell to score get the Huskies within two at 6-4.

 Freshman Carter Cox (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt South) entered the game from the NIU bullpen in the fifth and retired the Ball State side in order in both the fifth and sixth innings. Cox had four strikeouts in that stretch to keep the deficit at two runs.

 “Carter was really good today,” Copeland said. “We’ve thrown him in some tough situations as a freshman but we think he can handle that. Today was the best he’s been since he’s been on campus. He competed extremely well and had to battle through some bats but ultimately won those to give us a chance to come back.”

 The Huskies had a chance to level the game in the seventh. Kosobucki led off with a double, getting to third on a Gregorio flyout to right field. JP Gauthier (De Pere, Wis./Illinois State) drew a walk with two outs to get the tying run on base. Cardinals pitcher Owen Quinn got out of the inning as Loyd lined out.

 The Cardinals added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh when Bevis hit a two-out single up the middle to score Dylan Grego to give Ball State a 7-4 lead. Ball State had the bases loaded in the eighth with one out and a chance to break the game open, but NIU reliever John Lyman (Minneapolis, Minn./NIACC) got a 6-4-3 double play to keep the deficit at three going into the ninth.

 Parcell led off the ninth with a home run over the right field fence to get the Huskies within two, 7-5. Gregorio reached on a single up the middle after a strikeout. Ball State then went to Garrett Harker out of the bullpen, who walked Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) to put the tying run on base. Harker struck out Gauthier for the second out then locked up the save as Loyd grounded out to end the game.

 Quinn earned the win in relief for Ball State, allowing one run on three hits in 4.1 innings. The Huskies scored four runs off of starter Keegan Johnson who threw 95 pitches in four innings.

 “Our toughness in the batter’s box and that helped us get a pitcher that’s as talented as anyone at the top of the rotation in our league out of the game,” said Copeland. “The only thing is Ball State’s bullpen is pretty good too. We made them use two of their better relievers and that’s what can happen when you extend the game and keep it close. Hopefully that sets us up better for tomorrow and Sunday.”

 Parcell and Gregorio each had two hits in the game as the Huskies had seven on the day. Gregorio has a hit in each of the last 10 games, and in 16 of the last 17. Parcell’s home run was his fourth of the year.

 The two teams continue this weekend’s series on Saturday, April 12 at 12 p.m. CT.