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...

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,...

Against arguably the top Major League League Baseball pitching prospect in the Mid-American Conference – Jordan Foley – the NIU Huskies (9-27-1, 5-8 MAC) outhit Central Michigan (25-14, 11-2 MAC), 7-6, but fell one run short as Northern Illinois dropped game one of the series, 3-2. NIU starting pitcher Anthony Andres (Western Springs, Ill./St. Rita) threw...

In search of of its first series sweep of the season, the Northern Illinois baseball team (9-23-1, 5-7 MAC) gained a 3-1 lead after the first inning at Eastern Michigan (12-21, 2-10 MAC). However, three runs in the fourth and four in the sixth cost the Huskies their lead at Oestrike Field as they fell...

The NIU Huskies (8-22-1, 4-6 MAC) were relentless Friday in the series opener at Eastern Michigan (11-20, 1-9 MAC) as it scored in five innings and amassed 12 hits to defeat the Eagles, 10-2. The Huskies were error-free defensively and turned four double plays, a new season-high. Northern Illinois improved to 5-2 in the last...

Sophomore Ryan Olson (Sterling, Ill./Newman Central Catholic) pitched strong innings for the Huskies Wednesday for the NIU Huskies (7-22-1), surrendering zero earned runs and striking out four, but the effort wasn’t enough as UW-Milwaukee (10-12) scored two runs in the eighth inning to defeat NIU, 3-2. His seven innings were and four strikeouts were both...

Back-to-back doubles and consecutive sacrifices rallied Northern Illinois University (7-21-1) back from a a 6-5 deficit in the bottom of the ninth versus Illinois State (19-11) as the Huskies defeated the Redbirds on a sacrifice fly by Chris Divarco (Long Grove, Ill./Carmel Catholic), 7-6. It was NIU’s first walk off victory since April 27, 2013,...

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...

After surrendering the lead in the fifth inning to Valparaiso (9-13) – trailing by two, 6-4 – the Northern Illinois baseball team (5-19-1) retook the lead in the seventh inning and never looked back to defeat the Crusaders, 10-6. The Huskies amassed 13 hits in effort, three by leadoff hitter Carl Russell (Grayslake, Ill./Grayslake North). Alex Smith...