Akron Breaks Through Late Tie For 7-3 Win Against Northern Illinois

Saturday, April 19

DeKalb, IL

2:00 pm

University of Akron

12-26, 6-15

Northern Illinois

14-24, 4-14

Akron

Northern Ill.

Akron Breaks Through Late Tie For 7-3 Win Against Northern Illinois

April 19 | Baseball

Box Score Boxscore (PDF)

DEKALB, Ill. - The Akron Zips broke through after a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning to beat the Northern Illinois Huskies 7-3 Saturday.

Jack Kelley (3-1) got the win for Akron (12-26, 6-15). The right-hander went seven innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on four hits, allowing five walks and striking out six.

At the plate, the Zips were paced by Evan Bottone, who went 2-for-5 on the day with a double and an RBI. Austin Lafferty compiled a standout performance as well, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Max Bowman also helped out for Akron, putting together one hit in three trips to the plate while adding a walk and an RBI.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Trailing 2-0, the Zips first put runs on the board in the fifth inning. Akron plated two runs off of Northern Illinois pitching, one of which was driven in on a run-scoring double off the bat of Bottone.

The score stayed at 2-2 until the eighth inning, when the Zips put runs on the scoreboard once again. The Akron offense exploded for four runs, highlighted by a one-run double off the bat of Lafferty, which brought the Zips lead to 6-2.

Akron kept Northern Illinois without a run before expanding their lead to 7-2 the following inning. Northern Illinois put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but Akron still coasted to the 7-3 win.

GAME NOTES
» Kelley struck out six Huskies hitters.
» Akron's highest scoring inning was the eighth, when it pushed four runs across.
» Kelley put together seven innings of two-run ball for the Zips.
» The Zips out-hit the Huskies at a 10-6 clip.
» Akron went 4-for-11 (.364) with runners in scoring position.
» Akron pitchers faced 40 Northern Illinois hitters in the game, allowing six ground balls and 12 fly balls while striking out nine.
» The Zips drew four walks from Northern Illinois pitching.
» Bottone led the Zips at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Zips return to Skeeles Field on Monday, April 21 to battle Cedarville.