CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois Fighting Illini used a seven-run second inning Saturday afternoon to get by the Northern Illinois University baseball team 16-5 at Illinois Field.

"We came out pretty good offensively again and were able to put some good swings on the ball to get us into a decent position," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "For the second game in a row the big inning really hurt us. We just need to be better on the mound at the start of games. We played hard and kept fighting but at some point we need someone to step up on the mound and give us a chance to have an opportunity to win later in the game."

Illinois (19-13) got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning. Cameron Chee-Aloy led off with a walk. Cal Hejza then doubled with Chee-Aloy scoring all the way from first to give the Fighting Illini a 1-0 lead. A throwing error by JP Gauthier (De Pere, Wis./Illinois State) allowed Hejza to get to third base. After NIU starting pitcher Adam Brouwer (Tinley Park, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) walked Camden Janik, Drake Westcott ripped a single through the right side of the infield to drive home Hejza and put Illinois up 2-0. Brouwer retired the next three batters, striking out Jacob Schroeder to end the inning.

NIU (11-23) quickly responded in the top of the second. Aaron Harper (Hemet, Calif./Mt. San Jacinto JC) led off the inning with a home run over the left field fence to cut the Illini's lead in half. Gauthier followed with a base hit through the left side of the infield. Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) tied the game 2-2 with a one-out double to centerfield that scored Gauthier. Illinois starting pitcher Cooper Omans got back-to-back strikeouts to keep the game tied.

The Fighting Illini took back the advantage in the bottom of the second. B Harding led off with a home run to make the score 3-2. Coltin Quagliano and Chee-Aloy then hit back-to-back singles before Brouwer struck out Hejza for the first out of the inning. A Janik single to centerfield drove in Quagliano to give Illinois a 4-2 lead. Westcott then singled to load the bases for Vytas Valincius who drew a walk to drive in the third run of the inning. Ryan Moerman then capped the seven-run second with a grand slam to give the Illini a 9-2 lead.

The Huskies got two runs back in the third. Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) led off with an infield single. Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) followed with a two-run home run over the left field fence to make the score 9-4. It was his 13th home run of the season, tying Rob Marconi in 2003 and 2004 for the second-most home runs in a single season in NIU history.

Illinois scored twice in the third and fourth innings to go up 13-4. NIU put one more run on the board in the top of the seventh. With runners at the corners and two outs, a Jake Rons wild pitch allowed Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) to score from third.

The Huskies had seven hits in the game from seven different batters. Jake Nelson (Altoona, Wis./Madison College) extended his current hitting streak to seven games with a single to centerfield in the seventh.

NIU and Illinois wrap up their weekend series on Sunday, April 14 at 1 p.m.

—NIU—