Baseball Falls in Saturday Afternoon Game at Northern Illinois

Saturday, May 9

DeKalb, Ill.

3 PM ET / 2 PM CT

Ball State University

21-28, 14-15

Northern Illinois

31-13, 21-8

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Ball St.	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	0
Northern Ill.	0	1	0	2	1	3	3	1	11	17	0

Gavin Balius in a red Ball State baseball uniform taking a lead off first base

Photo by: Madison Younglove

Baseball Falls in Saturday Afternoon Game at Northern Illinois

May 09, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score

DEKALB, Ill. – The Ball State baseball team couldn't keep up with the Northern Illinois offense in an 11-1 loss in eight innings on Saturday afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field.

The Cardinals (21-28, 14-15 Mid-American Conference) tied the game in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Brady Davidson to plate Gavin Balius, but the Huskies (31-13, 21-8 MAC) tallied two runs in the bottom half of the frame and added on for their second straight win to start the weekend.

Wyatt Wawro started the scoring in the second inning with an RBI single, and Northern Illinois posted one-run frames in the fifth and eighth and three-run innings in the sixth and seventh in addition to the two-run fourth to secure the win.

Brady Strawmyer (1-2) started on the mound for the Cardinals and struck out two in 3.1 innings of work but allowed three runs in suffering the loss. Gavin Balius collected two hits, a walk and a steal as Ball State's lone batter with multiple hits on the day.

Carter Cox (6-4) struck out six in 6.0 innings of one-run ball to earn the win for the Huskies, who were led offensively by Wawro and Vinny Spotofora who each tallied three hits.

The series finale between the two teams is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT).