April 22, 2006
Box Score
DeKALB, IL - Northern Illinois dropped its Saturday afternoon contest to Central Michigan 17-5 at Ralph McKinzie Field ending a four-game win streak and setting up the rubber game of the series on Sunday. The Huskies now stand at 18-20, 7-7 in the MAC while the Chippewas improve to 24-16 and 10-4 in conference.
CMU scored first when Cody Allen scored on a third-inning double play groundout and added its second run in the fourth on a solo home run by Ben Humphrey.
The Huskies cut the lead to 2-1 in their half of the fourth when Jeff Thomas (Loves Park/Harlem) singled home Scott Simon (Algonquin/Marian Central Catholic) who led off the frame with a double to right field.
The Chippewas countered with two runs in the fifth and five runs in the sixth, the latter inning keyed by a Humphrey grand slam over the center field wall. In the seventh, the Chippewas scored four runs to take a 13-1 lead.
NIU put together a four-run seventh inning that began with a solo home run by Bobby Stevens (Chicago/Guerin Prep). Pat Minogue (Crystal Lake/Central) followed with a double and two batters later, Simon belted a two-run round-tripper over right center field. Thomas added his second RBI of the game with a single that scored Tim Kamin (Oak Lawn/Richards).
CMU scored three more runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to provide the game's final margin.
Trevor Feeney (Channahon/Joliet Catholic) absorbed the loss (3-3) after throwing 5.2 innings and allowing four earned runs while fanning four. Josh Collmenter earned the win for the Chippewas to even his mark at 4-4.
Simon and Thomas paced the Huskie offense with three hits and two RBI each.
NIU concludes its series with CMU Sunday afternoon in a 1 p.m. start. Live coverage will be available on GameTracker, linked through the baseball schedule page of www.niuhuskies.com.
NOTABLE HUSKIE TRACKS ...
-Scott Simon belted his 48th double, moving him into a tie for second place on the NIU career list with Rob Marconi (2001-04).
-NIU suffered its first defeat at home since April 8 against Kent State.
-The Huskies have hit five home runs in their last three MAC games.
-Bobby Stevens' home run was the first MAC round-tripper of his career.
-The three hits by Jeff Thomas marked the highest MAC game total of his career.
