April 15, 2006
Box Score
OXFORD, OH - Northern Illinois dropped its contest with Miami (OH), 14-4, in a game that began Friday night and was halted because of severe weather before being resumed Saturday afternoon at McKie Field at Hayden Park. The Huskies are now 14-18, 5-5 in the MAC while the RedHawks improve to 15-16, 5-5 on the year.
Miami scored in its first at-bat when Geoff Orr reached on an error which scored Ryne Robinson, who led off the game with a walk, for the game's first run. Jordan Petraitis then followed by singling through the right side to plate Jason Brown and Chris Niro brought home Orr on a single to left for an early 3-0 lead.
The RedHawks added a pair of runs in the second when Orr brought in Robinson on a sacrifice fly and Brown came around to score on a throwing error on the play for a 5-0 advantage. Petraitis then delivered a RBI single that plated Brandon Hillier to put the home team up 6-0.
NIU put a run on the board in the third inning with its first hit of the game when Bobby Stevens (Chicago/Guerin Prep) belted a double to left center field that brought home Pat Minogue (Crystal Lake/Central) who reached earlier in the frame on a fielder's choice. Justin Behm (Downers Grove/North) hammered a pitch to left field for a single and as the ball bounced past the left fielder, Stevens and Scott Simon (Algonquin/Marian Central Catholic), who was hit by pitch, came around to cross the plate to trim the lead to 6-3.
MU extended the margin to 7-3 when Hillier scored on a fourth-inning wild pitch. With one out and a runner at third, the rain and lightning came causing play to be halted and suspended. When the contest resumed Saturday, the RedHawks added to their lead with a Chris Nadeau sacrifice fly to make it 8-3. Nadeau added another sacrifice fly in the sixth for a 9-3 Miami lead.
The Huskies trimmed the margin to 9-4 in the seventh when Colin Grant (Lake Zurich/Lake County CC) scored on a throw to second base after a fly out to right field.
Miami added five runs in its half of the seventh keyed by Nadeau's two RBI single to right, extending the margin to 14-4.
Nick Hall (Crystal Lake/Prairie Ridge) took the loss to fall to 3-4. Sam Shorts (2-1) ) earned the win for Miami by throwing five innings of relief.
NIU continues its series at Miami with a second Saturday game scheduled to begin 30 minutes after the completion of game one (approximately 2:40 p.m. ET) while Sunday's finale remains set for 1 p.m. ET. Live coverage for each contest will be available on GameTracker, linked through the baseball schedule page of www.niuhuskies.com.
NOTABLE HUSKIE TRACKS ...
-Nick Hall made his 42nd career start moving him into sole possession of third place on the NIU career list.
-Andy Deain set a career-high by throwing 3.0 innings in relief.
-3B Colin Grant made the first start of his NIU career after playing in eight contests this season.
-Scott Simon has hit safely in nine of 10 MAC games this season.
