April 30, 2007
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Game 41: NORTHERN ILLINOIS (22-18) AT NORTHWESTERN (10-29)
Tuesday, May 1: 3 p.m. CDT
Location: Rocky Miller Park, Evanston, Ill.
Live Coverage: GameTracker
SERIES INFORMATION
All-Time Record: NIU leads 13-7
Last Meeting: 2006, NIU 8-6 at Geneva, Ill.
Ed Mathey against NU: 2-1
Games 42-43: NORTHERN ILLINOIS (22-18) AT UW-MILWAUKEE (10-25)
Wednesday, May 2: 2 p.m. CDT (Doubleheader of 7-inning games)
Location: Henry Aaron Field, Milwaukee, Wis.
Live Coverage: None
SERIES INFORMATION
All-Time Record: NIU leads 27-18
Last Meeting: 2006, (UWM 9-8, NIU 8-7)
Ed Mathey against UWM: 2-2
SHORT HOPS
-Closer Matt German became the NIU career saves leader on April 14 and has saved 24 of the last 46 Huskie victories (52 percent) over the past two seasons. The lefthander has not allowed a hit in his last six saves and went 24.1 innings without allowing an earned run from Feb. 25-April 20.
-Head coach Ed Mathey won his 127th game at NIU on April 28, passing George Evans for third place on the school's career win list. He is just six victories from moving into a tie for second place and 16 from matching the top spot.
-Danny Reed enters the week as the MAC's fourh-leading hitter with a .357 average.
-The Huskies won 20 of their first 31 games this season, becoming the fastest NIU baseball team to reach the 20-win mark in three decades.
-Scott Simon is among 30 national candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, presented to college baseball's outstanding senior student athlete.
-NIU entered 2007 as the only Illinois school represented on both the NCBWA
Stopper of the Year (Matt German) and Brooks Wallace Award (Scott Simon) watch lists.
-Matt German is listed on the Stopper of the Year watch list and was the "Projected MAC Pitcher of the Year" by Collegiate Baseball in the preseason preview issue.
LEADING THE LAND OF LINCOLN: With Matt German and Scott Simon entering the season on national watch lists for Stopper of the Year and the Wallace Award (player of the year), NIU now has accumulated three nominees over the past two seasons for those awards. The duo makes NIU the ONLY Illinois school with a player on each of the two preseason lists. During the past two years, the Huskies have combined for the most nominees on the those watch lists of any school in the state.
Northern Illinois 3
Southern Illinois 2
Northwestern 2
Illinois 1
Illinois-Chicago 1
NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY: The Huskies total of three Stopper of the Year and Wallace Award Watch List nominees over the past two seasons compares favorably with the "elite" programs in college baseball.
Cal State Fullerton 5
Miami (Fla.) 5
Rice 5
Texas 4
Clemson 4
Northern Illinois 3
Stanford 3
Southern California 3
Florida State 3
South Carolina 2
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: NIU won its first four MAC games of the season for the first time ever and started conference play at 9-3, its best MAC start in history. With 20 wins in their first 31 games, the Huskies were the 2007 squad was the fastest NIU baseball team to reach the 20-win plateau in three decades. From March 17-28, NIU notched six consecutive wins for the longest win streak under Ed Mathey.
MATHEY MILESTONES: Head coach Ed Mathey notched his 127th career victory on April 28 to move into sole possession of third place on the NIU career wins list, surpassing the legendary George Evans. Mathey is just six wins shy of reaching second place and 16 from the school's top spot. In 2006, he reached a pair of victory milestones, notching his 100th victory at NIU on April 12 and his 300th career victory on April 23. Mathey is the fourth coach in school history to reach the 100-win plateau and ascended three places up the victory list during the year.
NIU Career Coaching Victories
1. Spanky McFarland 143
2. Walt Owens 133
3. Ed Mathey 127
SPEAKING GERMAN: Matt German owns the NIU career saves record with 21 while ranking in a seventh place on the MAC's career lists in that category. He was selected as the MAC Pitcher of the Week on April 23 and has not allowed a hit while notching his last six saves, running his season save total to eight to go along with a career-high three wins. Of the past 46 NIU victories, German has factored into 24 of them (52%) either by win or save. German's 97 career appearances rank second in both MAC and NIU history behind only current teammate Mark Badgley. On April 1, German batted after a substitution eliminated the DH spot for the Huskies and delivered a RBI single in his first collegiate plate appearance.
SIMON SAYS: Prior to the season, Scott Simon was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List (National Player of the Year) and listed by Collegiate Baseball as one of the "Top Players to Watch" in the MAC and as the league's No. 3 Player of the Year candidate by Perfect Game Crosschecker. Simon owns several NIU record, including career marks for hits (290), RBI (184), doubles (65) and at-bats (838) while ranking fourth in runs (141) and seventh in home runs (19). Simon's career totals for hits and doubles place him fourth on MAC's career lists in those two categories. He also owns the single season records for hits (89), doubles (24), and RBI (71), all set in 2004.
SIMON UP FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Scott Simon was named to a list of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for baseball, an honor that goes to the nation's outstanding student athlete. A media committee will narrow the candidate pool to 10 in May before a nationwide vote will help to select the honoree. Simon is the lone MAC representative on the initial candidates list and one of only five players from Midwest schools. The award's website can be found at www.seniorclassaward.com.
TO AIR IS HUMAN: The duo of Scott Simon and Matt German are not only flying high on the field, but both are pursuing pilot's licenses with the hopes of becoming commercial pilots.
PITCHING PLAUDITS: NIU's team ERA of 4.57 is the best mark of the Ed Mathey era by nearly a full half run while posting improved numbers across the board, including the best strikeouts/per game and lowest hits per game and walks and hits per innings pitched during that stretch. If the Huskies can maintain that pace, it would be their best team ERA since a 4.10 mark in 1977. More impressively, NIU's 2007 conference ERA is 3.88 and the Huskies have recorded a pair of 14-strikeout games against MAC foes Kent State (4/6) and Eastern Michigan (4/29).
BADGE OF HONOR: Mark Badgley has taken on the role of pitching staff "swing man" with 12 relief appearances and seven games while owning team-high four victories. In his April 29 start against MAC leader Eastern Michigan, Badgley set career highs with 7.1 innings and 10 strikeouts. His longest relief outing was 6.2 innings for the win April 7 at Kent State. Badgley was named MAC West Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 27 and is the league's career leader with 115 appearances. His current season total of 67 strikeouts, 40 of which have come in the past 30.2 innings, is the ninth highest in NIU history.
SPECIAL K: The Huskie pitching staff leads the MAC with 291 overall strikeouts this season and 139 in conference games. Mark Badgley ranks second in the MAC with 9.78 strikeouts per game while teammate Matt Jernstad is ninth at 7.67. In league games, Badgley in the conference strikeout leader with 10.67 per nine innings. The 2007 staff is on pace to set a new NIU record for season strikeouts, a total of 391 set during the 2001 campaign.
SEYKORA STUFF: Listed as one of the "Top Players to Watch" in the MAC by Collegiate Baseball, Jesse Seykora is currently among the MAC's top-nine leaders in five offensive categories. He put up video game-like numbers during NIU's eight-game spring trip, hitting .500 (16-for-32), slugging 1.031, and belting five home runs with 15 RBI and 17 runs scored to earn MAC West Player of the Week accolades and mention on the College Baseball Foundation's national honor roll. In addition to posting a 12-game hit streak (March 2-20), Seykora surpassed his 2006 home run total (6) in just 17 games and is three RBI from topping last season's total.
FORMIDABLE FEENEY: Trevor Feeney currently owns an amazing 34:5 strikeout to walk ratio in six MAC starts and ranks among the league's overall leaders in wins, complete games and innings pitched. He posted complete game victories in each of his first two league starts and came within two outs of making it three while striking out 12, the second-highest NIU game output on record, in 8.1 innings at Kent State on April 6.
A GOOD REED: Danny Reed posted a 15-game hit streak from March 2-28, tying him for the highest NIU mark on record with Chuck Laird (1997), Rob Marconi and Joe Mazzuca (both in 2003). He also owns a separate streak of seven games and has hit safely in 31 of 35 games started this season. Currently the MAC's fourth-leading hitter at .357, Reed collected five RBI, including the bases clearing game-winning double, on March 4 at SIU.
STATE SUCCESS: Under head coach Ed Mathey, NIU has a 37-18 (.673) record against intrastate opposition. Over the past two seasons, NIU has defeated each Land of Lincoln opponent faced, including victories season sweep of Illinois State in 2007. Last season, the Huskies went 11-2 (.846) with wins over all seven Land of Lincoln opponents for the highest winning percentage of any Illinois school against intrastate foes.
FLYING HIGH AGAINST THE EAGLES: NIU set season MAC highs with an 11-run, 14-hit outburst in an 11-1 rout of conference leader Eastern Michigan on April 28. The win marked the Huskies' largest MAC victory margin since a 14-run difference (20-6) against Western Michigan on April 11, 2004. NIU's output was its highest home totals of the season and the largest victory margin since March 20, also 11-1 at Chicago State.
GRAND THEFT OF THE BASES: The Huskies have made a habit of successful base stealing by converting 57 of 75 attempts (76 percent) in 40 games this season. NIU's total of 57 thefts ranks second in the MAC and stole bases in 14 consecutive games from March 30-April 20. The team's overall high is five steals, achieved three times, most recently at Illinois State on April 10 when Daniel Jewett led the way with a team-best three. Two Huskies rank among the MAC's top five in steals led by Bobby Stevens (2nd) and followed by Jewett (4th).
STREAKERS: Five Huskies have put together hit streaks of at least 10 games this season led by Danny Reed's 15-game mark. Jesse Seykora (12), Daniel Jewett (10), and Jordin Hood (10) have added long streaks while Scott Simon carried over an eight-game streak from 2006 and raised it to 10 by hitting safely in the first two contests this season. Reed, Seykora and Jewett were just one game from having concurrent double-digit streaks on March 23.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: NIU has four senior captains for the 2007 season: P Mark Badgley, P Matt German, 3B Jesse Seykora, and 1B Scott Simon. The quartet was selected by the coaching staff during fall practice.
SENIOR MOMENTS: The Huskies have 17 upperclassmen on their roster, including eight seniors: P Mark Badgley, 2B Marc Besteman, P Matt German, OF Daniel Jewett, OF/P Brett Kellam, C/OF Tim Ryan, 3B Jesse Seykora, and 1B Scott Simon. NIU will hold senior day festivities to honor its seniors prior to the May 6 game against Western Michigan.
