March 8, 2009

Final Stats

Final Box

Carbondale, Ill. - The Northern Illinois baseball team came up short in its attempt to sweep Southern Illinois (4-9) as the Salukis powered by the Huskies (4-7) with a decisive seven-run fourth inning to win 9-7 on Sunday afternoon at Abe Martin Field.

SIU started the fourth inning with a one out solo homerun by Chris Serritella. Then Jordan Sivertsen singled, Tony Lepore walked and Tyler Bullock doubled to score both runners. Aaron Roberts followed by reaching on an error by junior first baseman Dave Reynolds (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and Chris Murphy doubled to score Bullock. On the next play, Scott Elmendorf grounded out to second to score Roberts. Freshman Kyle Glancy (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) then replaced freshman starter Chris Wakefield (Canton, Ga./Cherokee) and walked Michael Stalter to set up Mark Kelly, who doubled to score Murphy and Stalter.

"We couldn't close that inning down," said NIU head coach Ed Mathey. "We extended the inning with walks and by not making plays that should have happened. We gave up a lot of free bases today and when you don't get the outs you're supposed to, it doesn't help at all. Not very often does a team score seven runs in an inning and lose the game. I give SIU credit. They came out today, swung the bat well, made plays and came out to win."

NIU responded with a three-run fifth to narrow the lead to one run, 7-6. With one out, freshman Troy White (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) doubled down the right field line and senior Nick Badgley (McHenry, Ill./McHenry C.C.) reached on an infield single to third. Senior Pat Minogue (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) followed with a double to left, scoring White. Then with two outs, junior Jordin Hood (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) delivered a single to center to score Badgley and Minogue. With junior Joe Buonavolanto (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale South) batting, Hood stole second to bring the tying run into scoring position, but Buonavolanto went down on strikes to end the inning.

SIU added another run in the bottom of the fifth on NIU's third error of the day. After Roberts reached on a fielder's choice bunt, he stole second with two outs to set up Elmendorf, who singled on a grounder to third, allowing Roberts to score after White's errant throw.

NIU cut the deficit back to one in the sixth with a one out RBI double by senior Matt Behren (Elmwood Park, Ill./Holy Cross) that scored Reynolds, who singled to lead off the inning. The Huskies then had three chances to tie the game, but could not do so, coming closest on a single to center by White that only advanced Behren to third. After White was picked off while trying to steal second, Badgley walked before Minogue flew out to center.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Salukis answered with another run to take a 9-7 lead. With one out and the bases loaded, Bullock drove in a run with a grounder to short that resulted in a force out at third. Huskie sophomore reliever Tom Zelasko (Lansing, Ill./Mt. Carmel) then got Murphy to fly out to center to end the threat.

In the Huskies' best chance to possibly tie or take the lead, Behren flew out to center with the bases loaded and two outs.

"Behren hit that one pretty well, but didn't get all of it," said Mathey. "We did battle back and I'll give the kids credit for that. We didn't quit. We had the tying run in the batters box in the ninth and that's what you ask for."

SIU reliever Daniel Etienne (2-0) entered the game in the third inning and earned the win despite giving up three earned runs on five hits. George Bryant got the save by closing the ninth with a walk and a strikeout. Saluki starter Jimmy Cornell lasted 2.1 innings, surrendering three earned runs on a hit and five walks with four strikeouts. Wakefield (0-3) took the loss for the Huskies after allowing four earned runs on six hits and a walk in 3.2 innings.

Four Salukis tallied multiple hits, led by Kelly, who had three along with two RBI. Murphy, Sivertsen and Lepore all had two hits apiece with Murphy recording an RBI. Bullock led SIU with three RBI while Elmendorf also drove a run in.

White led the Huskies with a 3-for-5 performance and two RBI. Hood also had two RBI along with a hit and a steal. Reynolds had two hits and a run scored while Minogue added two hits with an RBI as well. Badgley and Behren each recorded a hit with a run scored and an RBI.

"Troy continued to swing well and he executed a nice hit-and-run," said Mathey. "It was also nice to see Pat Minogue get going. We have been making adjustments with his swing. It'd be nice to get him going because we need him to be successful as one of our veteran leaders."

Before SIU's big inning, the Huskies opened the game by taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning after capitalizing on three walks. Buonavolanto, senior Justin Behm (Downers Grove, Ill./North) and Behren all earned free passes to set up a two out RBI fielder's choice grounder to third by White that the Salukis were unable to convert an out on.

NIU increased its lead to 3-0 in the third by another RBI single from White and an RBI fielder's choice grounder to short by Badgley. Behm scored the first run by reaching on a fielder's choice grounder to short and advancing to second on a passed ball. Behren scored the second run after walking and advancing to third on White's single.

"All in all, we took two out of three on the weekend on the road and had a chance to sweep," said Mathey. "It was a good weekend, but we had a good chance to win today and it would have been nice to come through with a sweep."

The Huskies get a day off before heading to St. Louis, Mo. for a pair of games against the St. Louis Billikens (7-4). The teams will play on Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT and again on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Huskie Notes

- In his first start and appearance of the year, Joe Buonavolanto walked in his first plate appearance in the first inning and picked up the first hit of his season in the seventh inning.

- NIU has had a player register a multi-hit game in all 11 games this season, led by Jordin Hood and Dave Reynolds, who each have five.

- Dave Reynolds has a seven-game hitting streak and has gotten a hit in all but one game of NIU's 11 games. He is 13-for-28 in his last seven games.

- Jordin Hood has a six-game hitting streak and has gotten a hit in all but one of NIU's 11 games this season. On the year, he is 17-for-40 at the plate with a .511 on-base percentage and a .600 slugging percentage. He also leads the team with eight RBI and six steals.

- With 12 hits today, NIU has tallied six games with 10 or more hits this season.

- Tom Zelasko pitched a career-long three innings today and recorded a career-best two strikeouts to extend his scoreless appearances streak to five. During that span, he has gone 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and five walks along with three strikeouts.