April 14, 2009

Final Stats

Final Box

DeKalb, Ill. - The Northern Illinois baseball team jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two innings en route to a 14-10 win over intrastate rival Illinois State on a brisk Tuesday afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field that marked the sixth win at home in 2009 for the Huskies in their seventh game.

The Huskies (12-21, 4-7 Mid-American Conference) scored five two-out runs in the first inning with the help of six free passes by Illinois State (16-11) as Jordin Hood (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) struck out swinging on what would have been the third out, but Ben Hays' pitch sailed wide into the dirt past catcher Gabe DeMarco, allowing Hood to reach first. Then NIU loaded the bases after back-to-back walks to Dave Reynolds (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and Justin Behm (Downers Grove, Ill./North). On the next pitch, Joe Etcheverry (Bakersfield, Calif./Centennial) hit a high pop-up that swirled in the wind causing a mix-up by the Redbird infielders as the ball fell safely only several feet away from the mound to score the first two runs. Troy White (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) then came through with an RBI double down the left field line. With Alex Beckmann (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) up, Hays balked home Etcheverry and walked Beckmann to set up Pat Minogue (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central), who doubled on a soft liner down the left field line to score White.

"We took advantage of some first inning miscues," said Mathey. "We had two outs and nobody on base then Jordin Hood gets on after a wild pitch strikeout and we get a couple of walks. Joe Etcheverry was looking for a first pitch fastball and pops one up into the wind. Fortunately for us it landed in the infield and that led to five runs for us."

NIU plated two more in the second after Hood was hit by a pitch to reach first, a feat that would happen to him two more times in the game for his nation leading 19th HBP. Reynolds followed with a two-run homer, his fourth of the year, to right for his 13th RBI in his last four games.

"Dave has been swinging the bat well lately," Mathey said. "He's been in a pretty good spot and we hope he can continue to be there."

After Mike Stalowy singled through the left side to score ISU's second run of the game in the fifth with two outs, he then stole second before Evan Kohli walked, but freshman starter Jake Hermsen (New London, Wis./New London) got Anthony Ruffolo to ground out to first base as that was the last batter Hermsen would face in his first collegiate start in which he earned his first win (1-0) in a Huskie uniform by pitching five innings, giving up an earned run on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

"I'm real happy for Jake and real proud of his effort today," Mathey said. "It was his first college start and he was going against a good Illinois State team that is a big rival to us in Illinois and on the recruiting trail. He came out and established the zone and had his fastball going today. He threw a few more pitches than we wanted to, but we had to extend some guys over the weekend so it was important for us to try to get an extra inning or two from Jake. We pushed a little bit beyond his limit, but he did a good job."

ISU added another run in the sixth on a two-out RBI single through the left side by Corey Maines to cut the NIU lead to 7-3, but the Huskies responded with another five-run frame in the bottom of the sixth to go up 12-3. Hood led off with a triple off the right field wall. Reynolds lined out to second before Kenny Long walked Behm and Etcheverry to load the bases for White, who hit an RBI fielder's choice grounder to third. After Beckmann walked, Minogue tripled to clear the bases and Alex Jones (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) singled through the right side to score Minogue, who tallied two extra base hits a run, a walk and a career-high four RBI on the day.

"I'm very happy for Pat," said Mathey. "He has been with this program for a while now and he is one of our leaders. It's good to see him get back into form and doing the things he's capable of doing to help this team."

The teams exchanged a pair of runs in the seventh and the Huskies endured a five-run ninth by the Cardinals to get their fifth win in the last seven games against ISU as Hays (0-1) took the loss after giving up seven earned runs on six hits and two walks with a strikeout in only 1.2 innings.

"We still have to get better on the defensive side of the baseball," said Mathey. "We're still not doing the things we need to do. We've given up too many free passes and had too many soft pitches over the plate. We made a huge blunder here in the ninth on a decision to try a double play on a non-double play ball. If we don't get them fixed, we won't be able to get where we need to."

The NIU offense was led by White, who went 3-for-5 with two runs, a pair of doubles, and a season-high tying four RBI.

"Troy White has been playing hard all year and it was nice to see him hit today," Mathey said. "He killed that ball that he hit to center field in the seventh that scored two runs. It was great to see."

Reynolds and Etcheverry also had three hits each as Reynolds scored three runs and drove in two, while Etcheverry scored a run and had a pair of RBI. Hood had a hit and scored three runs as did Behm.

"Today's win was important," said Mathey. "We have been on the road and struggling a bit, but it was good to come out here and establish ourselves again with a win. We have to roll this into to tomorrow as another freshman in Zach Badgley will be on the mound. We're hoping he can give us a good effort, too."

Collin Salzenstein led the Cardinals with four hits and a run scored, while Stalowy had two hits, scored a run and drove in four.

The Huskies return to action tomorrow with the second game of a five-game homestand as NIU faces Chicago State (3-31 Independent) at 3:35 p.m. CT at Ralph McKinzie Field before hosting Mid-American Conference foe Toledo (14-17, 7-5 MAC) this weekend in a three-game series. Freshman Zach Badgley (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) (0-0, 13.50, 18 H, 7 BB, 9 SO) will take the mound for NIU to face Chicago State, who hasn't named a starter for the game yet.

-NIU-

Huskie Notes

- NIU is 23-8 at home against Illinois opponents under Mathey and 81-43-1 at home overall.

- The Huskies are 50-24 against Illinois opponents under Mathey and are 4-2 this year.

- NIU has scored a run in the first inning 15 times, including in four of the last five games.

- The Huskies scored 10 or more runs in a game for the seventh time and tallied 10 or more hits for the 18th time, doing so for the fourth straight game.

- Both teams combined for 10 HBPs (six by ISU, four by NIU) to come within two of the NCAA single-game high of 12 that was set last season on April 1 in a matchup between South Florida (eight) and Central Florida (four).

- Hood has a nine-game hitting streak and his 19 HBPs rank second on the NIU all-time single season list just eight shy of Bobby Stevens' 2008 record of 27.

- The NIU pitching staff tied its season-high with 11 strikeouts, which they also did on April 4 at Kent State.

- The Huskies have had a player get multiple hits in all but three games this season, led by Hood's 15.