NIU Today

Fans of the Northern Illinois University baseball program can follow 22 current NIU Huskies and three future Huskies across eight different states, stretching the East and West coasts throughout the summer, as they play collegiate summer baseball. “The best way to get better at baseball is to keep playing baseball. It’s important that our guys...

Northern Illinois’ bid at a Mid-American Conference Tournament berth fell short Saturday afternoon as the MAC Champion Ball State Cardinals (38-16, 22-4 MAC) defeated the Huskies, 10-2. Junior Micah McCulloch (Rochelle, Illinois/Rochelle Township) finished the game one triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with a home run, a double and two RBI. Kevin Sweeney...

Sophomore Jordan Ruckman (Kankakee, Illinois/Herscher) tossed the first complete game shutout of his career Wednesday night versus Northwestern (12-29) as Northern Illinois (14-30-1) defeated the Wildcats, 4-0. Ruckman fanned eight batters and only allowed three hits while walking four. “Jordan was outstanding and a lot of credit goes to him. He was throwing strikes and...

Senior Alex Klonowski (Kearney, Missouri/Kearney) threw his second complete game shutout of the season Sunday over Western Michigan (15-23, 6-12 MAC) to lead the NIU Huskies (13-29-1 8-10 MAC) over the Broncos and clinch the series, 1-0. Klonowski fanned eight batters and surrendered one walk in 123 pitches. The victory was NIU’s second-straight win via...

The NIU Huskies (12-29-1, 7-10 MAC) picked up their fourth shutout of the season Saturday afternoon behind an eight inning, 141 pitch effort by Eli Anderson (Glenview, Illinois/New Trier) to defeat Western Michigan, 2-0. Justin Fletcher (Pekin, Illinois/Illinois Central) and Micah McCulloch (Rochelle, Illinois/Rochelle Township) each collected a hit and an RBI. Fletcher drove in...

A squeeze bunt in the bottom of the eighth by senior Joe Battaglia (Westchester, Illinois/St. Joseph) broke a 2-2 deadlock for Northern Illinois (11-28-1) as it defeated UW-Milwaukee (14-17), 3-2. Battaglia recorded the bunt in his only plate appearance of the game. Shortstop Brian Sisler (DeKalb, Illinois/DeKalb) finished 2-for-4 with a run. On the mound,...

The NIU Huskies (9-25-1) played two tight games Wednesday night in Peoria’s Dozer Park versus Bradley (20-13) as the Huskies dropped both games in its doubleheader, 3-0, 7-5. Sophomore Justin Fletcher (Pekin, Ill./Illinois Central) finished the games 2-for-6 with an RBI and a double. Relief pitcher Andrew Frankenreider (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) pitched one inning in game...

A complete game, one-hit shutout by Alex Klonowski (Kearney, Mo./Kearney) – the first for NIU since April 1, 1997 at Valparaiso – served as a catalyst for a Northern Illinois (6-21-1, 3-6 MAC) victory over Toledo (12-16, 4-5 MAC) Sunday afternoon as the Huskies defeated the Rockets, 7-0. It was the first shutout in Klonowski’s career...

Northern Illinois baseball (5-21-1, 2-6 MAC) started slow against Toledo (12-15, 4-3 MAC) in its first two games at the Ralph McKinzie Field, mounting two late rallies on the Rockets. A pinch-hit grand slam by Micah McCulloch (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Township) in game one and a four run seventh in game two opened the door for...

The Northern Illinois baseball team dropped a pair of tightly contested ball games Sunday versus Bowling Green at Grand Park as NIU (4-19-1, 2-4 MAC) fell to Bowling Green (8-16, 2-4 MAC) in Sunday’s doubleheader, 4-1, 7-3. The Huskies stranded seven runners on base in both contests. “Today we just didn’t have the three phases...

Despite a biting wind and cold, the Northern Illinois baseball team (4-17-1, 2-3 MAC) accounted for 10 hits and nine runs versus Bowling Green (6-16, 0-4 MAC) in the series opener at Grand Park. With solid defense and pitching to compliment the hitting, NIU held BG scoreless for the Falcons first shutout of the season,...

Sophomore Justin Fletcher (Pekin, Ill./Illinois Central) finished 2-for-3 at the plate Sunday afternoon in Northern Illinois’ (1-12-1) series finale at No. 5 Oregon State (14-3), but the Huskies were unable to score any runs in the contest as they fell to Beavers, 10-0. “We got what we deserved with the way we pitched today,” said...