SIU baseball’s six-game winning streak was on the line this weekend as the Salukis hosted Northern Illinois in a three-game series. The Salukis won the first two games to extend the streak to eight, but lost the last game on Sunday, 9-6.

In game one on Friday, senior pitcher Jordan Powell picked up his second win of the season. Powell pitched 6.1 innings, had career-high eight strikeouts and retired nine consecutive batters. The Saluki offense did its part by getting double-digit hits for the second game in a row and scoring nine runs.

SIU was down 2-0, but came from behind to win 9-4.

Sophomore pitcher Cody Adams was the key in the Salukis’ 5-1 victory Saturday. Adams pitched seven scoreless innings and recorded a career-high nine strikeouts.

With the win, Adams improved his record to 4-0. He has a 0.93 earned run average and 28 strikeouts.

In game three on Sunday, the Salukis were unable to secure the sweep of the Huskies and lost 9-6.

Head coach Dan Callahan said winning two out of three games is better than losing two out of three games, but he was not pleased with the results of Sunday’s game.

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t get the sweep,” Callahan said. “We had a chance, we were in the driver seat. I think they [Huskies] played with more energy than we did late in the game.”

Northern Illinois struck first, scoring two runs in the second. The Salukis came back and tied the game by the fourth inning.

SIU led the Huskies 6-5 going into the ninth. Junior pitcher Daniel Wells started off the ninth by hitting Huskies’ sophomore outfielder Pat Minouge. A single by Huskies’ senior first basemen Scott Simon moved the runner to third and was followed by senior infielder Jesse Seykora’s RBI single to tie the game.

SIU junior shortstop Tyler Lairson could not handle the ground ball from Huskies’ freshman infielder Jordan Hood. With the bases loaded and only one out, junior outfielder Danny Reed hit a bases-clearing double, scoring three runs, putting the Huskies up 9-6.

In the bottom of the ninth, Huskies’ senior closer Matt German struck out two Salukis and forced sophomore catcher Mark Kelly into a groundout.

“We didn’t execute, we didn’t execute on defense,” Callahan said. “It changed the complexion of the game, and I’m disappointed that was the best we could do in the last two innings.”

Kelly was able to extend his hitting streak to nine games, hitting 6-for-11 with 5 RBI.