BGSU baseball (31-19, 17-10) took a 14-8 loss against the Northern Illinois Huskies (20-31, 8-19) Thursday to start off the final weekend of the regular season.
The Orange and Brown came into the final Mid-American Conference (MAC) series of the season fully rested following a canceled non-conference matchup against Toledo earlier in the week on Tuesday.
This came to their advantage in the first innings as the Falcons spotted up three early runs.
Junior outfielder/catcher Zach Horky notched two RBIs with a double to right center.
Horky had an impressive day at the plate, only missing a home run for the cycle, with a triple in the third and single in the fifth.
The Huskies struck back quickly with a five spot in the top of the second inning on a two-out rally.
Northern Illinois was helped by BGSU junior right-handed pitcher Jacob Turner who had four walks in the inning.
The Huskies also had two doubles in the inning by outfielders Charlie Parcell and Gavin Baldwin that knocked in multiple runs.
The lead continued to grow for NIU in the fourth inning as catcher Logan Gregorio blasted a three-run homer to left center to bolster the lead to 9-4.
The Orange and Brown strung together a few hits in the fifth inning to close the deficit to three.
Senior utility player Gavin Ganun doubled down the left field line to score Horky and redshirt freshman utility player Caden Bates singled to right field to score Ganun.
Will Couchman homered to left field to boost the Huskie lead to four in the sixth.
Northern Illinois put the game out of reach in the ninth inning with a two RBI double by JP Gauthier.
The Huskies scored multiple runs in all four of the innings they scored.
The Orange and Brown were out hit by NIU 17 to 11 which contributed to the outcome of the game.
BGSU also struggled to find a consistent arm on the mound during the game, working through four in the outing.
Each pitcher that pitched more than a whole inning had let up multiple runs.
The Falcons will have a chance at redemption against the Huskies the following two days with games Friday and Saturday. Both games first pitch will be at 1:00 pm.
