‘Keep it simple’ is a philosophy the NIU baseball team has adopted this season, and quite simply, it’s working.

That approach helped the Huskies pick up a big road win against Iowa Wednesday night, beating the Hawkeyes 5-4. NIU (9-11) has now won six of its last seven games.

“We’re trying to keep it simple and take it one at bat at a time,” NIU center fielder Pat Minogue said. “A big part of baseball is mental and it’s important to keep the mental portion simple.”

Minogue has seen the results of that mentality first hand, as he improved his hitting streak to eight games by going 3–for–3.

The Huskies used some small ball in the third inning to take a 3-0 lead on Iowa (7-9).
Minogue led off the top half of the inning, followed by a Bobby Stevens walk. A Jeff Thomas single loaded the bases and led to a Jordin Hood sacrifice fly. The Huskies added another run later in the inning with a bases-loaded walk.

“We’re not a big home run hitting team, so we have to play a little small ball,” Minogue said. “We have to capitalize when we get runners on.”

Iowa came back in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of runs of its own.

An RBI single by Thomas in the fourth capped off another two–run inning for the Huskies and put them ahead for good.

“It’s always good to show well against a team like Iowa,” Minogue said.

Dave Reynolds picked up the win on the mound for NIU making him 2-0 on the season.
The sophomore pitched a strong five and two–thirds inning giving up three runs while striking out six. Reynolds also helped his own cause by having a hit and two RBIs on the afternoon.

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