DeKALB, Ill. – A 10th-inning walkoff single by Jordin Hood (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) scored Danny Reed (Lindstrom, Minn./North Iowa Area CC) to lift Northern Illinois to a 3-2 victory over UW-Milwaukee Wednesday afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field. The Huskies earned their third consecutive non-conference victory while improving to 10-14 overall.
“It is good to be back on the winning side and you always feel better about yourself after a victory,” said head coach Ed Mathey. “It was great to see Jordin come through with the winning hit and hopefully that gets him going after struggled a bit early in the season.”
The teams traded runs in the first inning with the Panthers getting a RBI single from Nick Wichser and the Huskies scoring on a bases-loaded walk to Jeff Thomas (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem).
With the score tied at one, Northern Illinois took its first lead with a run in the fifth. Pat Minogue (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) reached on an errant throw by the catcher following a strikeout, stole second and came across to score on a RBI single by Dave Reynolds (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg).
Milwaukee answered in the seventh and knotted the game at two on a RBI single by Troy Vesling.
The Huskies threatened in the ninth but left two aboard before striking for the winning run in the extra frame.
Reynolds (3-0) notched the win in relief for NIU while Jordan Herbert(0-4) took the loss for the Panthers (5-17). Huskie starter Brandon Copp (Aurora, Ill./West) worked 5.0 innings with four strikeouts in a no-decision effort. The lefthander allowed three hits, one earned run and no walks and retired 13 of his last 14 batters faced.
Hood, Reynolds and Bobby Stevens (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) each collected two hits in the game for the Huskies.
NIU returns to action Friday with its first MAC home game of the season, a 3 p.m. contest against defending league champion Kent State.
The game can be heard locally on WLBK 1360-AM and worldwide on NIUHuskies.com.
