Feb. 25, 2006

Box Score

EVANSVILLE, IN - The Northern Illinois Huskies won their second consecutive game with a 4-2 triumph at Evansville in the Dunn Hospitality Baseball Classic. With the victory, NIU clinched the tournament title and improved to 2-3 on the season.

"Winning this tournament is a great thing for our young team," said head coach Ed Mathey. "Our kids have played very well in these two games and that is a testament to our team. The pitching has been outstanding, our defense has made some good plays, and our offense has been opportunistic."

For the second straight day, the NIU pitching was dominant, yielding just two hits in the contest. Nick Hall (1-1) picked up the victory with six strong innings. The Huskie bullpen again slammed the door by combining for three hitless innings capped by Matt German's first save of the season.

NIU's offense pounded out nine hits in the game, paced by Brian Toner, who had three hits and two RBI in the contest and has hit safely in all five games this season. Marc Besteman and Pat Minogue each contributed RBIs in the win. Minogue and Jesse Seykora posted doubles in the game while Besteman and Jeff Thomas each stole a base.

The Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring runs in the first, second and sixth. Evansville trimmed the margin to 3-2 in the home half of the sixth before NIU added an insurance run in the ninth.

Remarkably, NIU's `pen has not allowed a hit over five innings of work in the Evansville tournament and has allowed just four earned runs all season. In four appearances this season, German has thrown 5.0 innings without allowing a hit and yielding only two baserunners during that span.

The Huskies conclude the weekend and aim for a tournament sweep with an 11 a.m. Sunday contest against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Adam Holdenrid is scheduled to take to the mound for NIU.

NOTABLE HUSKIE TRACKS ...

-NIU's bullpen has allowed four earned runs in 19.1 innings of work this season (1.88 ERA).
-Matt German has retired 15 of 17 batters faced this season.
-Brian Toner's three hits tied Scott Simon for most in a game this season.
-Toner has hit safely in all five games this season while Simon is riding a four-game hit streak.