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FINAL: Northern Illinois (5-16, 1-0 MAC) 2, Ohio (9-12, 0-1 MAC) 0 -- Athens, Ohio (Bob Wren Stadium)

OHIO STARTERS: Manny De Jesus (CF), Mitch Longo (LF), Rudy Rott (1B), John Adryan (3B), Cody Gaertner (C), Ty Black (2B), Spencer Ibarra (RF), Nate Squires (DH), Tyler Finkler (SS), Jake Miller (P) 

NORTHERN ILLINOIS STARTERS: Justin Fletcher (CF), Brad Wood (2B), Johnny Zubek (C), Brian Sisler (SS), Brandon Mallder (1B), Stephen Letz (RF), Tony Brandner (DH), Luke Yapp (3B), Jason Gasser (LF), William Anderson (P)

THE BASICS
Despite a complete game and a season-high eight strikeouts from senior right-handed starting pitcher Jake Miller (Westerville, Ohio), the Ohio baseball team (9-12, 0-1 MAC) fell to West Division foe Northern Illinois (5-16, 1-0 MAC), 2-0 on Friday (March 25) in the 2016 Mid-American Conference opener at Bob Wren Stadium in Athens, Ohio.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Miller pitched all nine frames for the Bobcats, giving up two earned runs on two hits and two walks while fanning eight. He fell to 2-4 on the year.
• Junior second baseman Ty Black (Waynesville, Ohio) went 2-for-3 for the Bobcats.
• For the Huskies, freshman right-handed starting pitcher William Anderson picked up the win as he pitched eight scoreless innings while allowing four hits, two walks and four strikeouts. He improved to 2-1 on the season.
• Junior right-handed reliever Ryne Blanton picked up his second save of the year for Northern Illinois, throwing a scoreless ninth inning. He gave up one hit.
• Senior right fielder Stephen Letz went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI for Northern Illinois.
• The Huskies recorded the game's lone runs in the top of the fourth, as Letz dropped a two-out single into shallow right field to score both sophomore second baseman Brad Wood and redshirt junior first baseman Brandon Mallder. Wood was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning while Mallder reached on fielder's choice.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Gaertner extended his hitting streak to 18 games.
• Black tallied his seventh multi-hit game of the season.

QUOTABLE
Senior right-handed starting pitcher Jake Miller on his complete-game performance:
"It's bittersweet. I wanted to go deep into the game. I wanted to give my team a chance to win, so I did that per se. I think it puts us in a great spot for Saturday and Sunday with our bullpen and starters that I feel like will get us into the game. You know, it's baseball and we've got to keep our heads up and keep moving forward."

UP NEXT
Ohio looks to even the MAC-opening weekend series on Saturday (March 26) with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. ET at the Wren. Junior right-hander Jake Rudnicki (Toledo, Ohio) is set to pitch for the Bobcats, facing off against Northern Illinois senior lefty Ryan Olson.

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