Oct. 21, 2008

DeKalb, Ill. - The Northern Illinois baseball team completed its fall workouts with a split-squad five-game Fall World Series in which Red took the crown over Black, 3-2. In the final and deciding fifth game, Red shutout Black, 8-0, behind senior starter Brandon Copp's (Aurora, Ill./West) strong performance in which he allowed no runs on two hits with seven strikeouts and a pair of walks.

"Red came out and threw the ball well," said Huskie head coach Ed Mathey of Red's combined shutout from Copp and freshman Kyle Glancy (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park). "Copp started that game, but he and Glancy both did a good job of throwing strikes and staying ahead of hitters. Red was able to take advantage of a few errors and that's something that we preach because being able to take advantage of errors is key."

In the deciding contest, Red jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning after a two-out error allowed junior Joe Buonavolanto (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale South) to score from third. Sophomore Joe Etcheverry followed with a single to plate junior transfer Nick Morreale (Vernon Hills, Ill./Mesa (AZ) C.C.), who had reached second on the error.

Red would get four more runs in the fifth with the help from the Black defense. Senior Nick Badgley (McHenry, Ill./McHenry C.C.) led off the frame with a solo homer to cap a solid series performance as he totaled six hits in 10 at-bats, four RBI and three runs along with a stolen base. Junior Jordin Hood (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) then reached second on an error and scored after freshman Brandon House's (Richton Park, Ill./Marian Catholic) single. After Morreale struck-out, Etcheverry reached second on another Black error and scored on senior Matt Behren's (Elmwood Park, Ill./Holy Cross) single, giving Red a 6-0 advantage that would go unchallenged by Black.

"Overall, both teams had a pretty decent approach at the plate throughout the series," Mathey said. "The thing that hurt the black team was defensive errors. We will have to remedy that prior to the spring season, but from a coaching standpoint, when they made those errors, they lost those games. So it's a good lesson learned for them.

"By the end of the series, guys were positioning themselves where they were supposed to and making adjustments pitch-to-pitch. Early in the series some of the new guys were struggling with the positioning and that just shows the difference between college and high school. Our veterans did a really nice job of communicating with our newcomers to get it resolved by the end."

Black held a 2-1 lead in the series before Red took the final two games. In game one, Black won by a count of 10-3 and took game three, 7-3. Before taking the final contest, Red won game two, 6-4, and game four, 4-1. The series proved to be very competitive and resulted in some good lessons learned, according to Mathey.

"It was a great opportunity for the new kids to get a feel for the speed of the game and the differences from the high school level to the collegiate level," Mathey said. "With four or five key guys out, it was good for us to see guys open to playing new positions, which will give us a versatile team this spring. The team came together as a group to fill those voids and it was a good learning experience for everyone.

"Our new players stepped up and showed that they can contribute for us this spring and the returners looked like they were in good shape and have stepped their game up to another level, which was good to see."

The Huskies begin the 2009 season with the Cadence Classic Tournament at Mississippi State Feb. 20-22, a weekend that includes two contests against the host Bulldogs and two against North Florida with the first game of the year being against UNF at 3 p.m. CST in Starkville, Miss.