April 18, 2009

Game One Final Stats

Game Two Final Stats

Game One Final Box

Game Two Final Box

DeKalb, Ill. - After taking yesterday's series opener, the Northern Illinois baseball team looked to game more ground on Mid-American Conference West Division first-place Toledo, but failed to do so as the Huskies (14-23, 5-9 MAC) dropped both games to the Rockets (16-18, 9-6 MAC) in a doubleheader on Saturday at Ralph McKinzie Field. Despite getting 15 runs on 31 hits and four walks in both games the Huskies fell 12-7 in game one and 12-8 in game two as Toledo tallied 24 runs on 31 hits and 13 walks on the day.

"Toledo is a fiery club and it has been that way between us and them on the baseball field for a few seasons now," said NIU head coach Ed Mathey. "They came out with a lot of energy and kept battling. We did too, but just came up on the short end. We had a great chance to win a couple of games and we let it slide. We have to get out on the road here now, win some games over the next couple of weeks and get ourselves back into this."

In game one, the lead changed hands three times before Toledo claimed it for good with a two-run sixth inning as Jake Oester came through with a two-out RBI double to give the Rockets an 8-6 lead.

NIU answered with a two-out solo homerun (5) to left field by Justin Behm (Downers Grove, Ill./North) in the bottom of the sixth, but Toledo got the run back in the top of the seventh on a two-out single by Chris Dudics that pushed the lead back to two, 9-7. The Rockets then put the game away in the ninth as Jared Hoying blasted a three-run homer to right.

Toledo reliever Kyle Shaw (2-1) was credited with the win by throwing 2.1 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with two strikeouts, while Tom Zelasko (Lansing, Ill./Mt. Carmel) took the loss (1-2) in relief after giving up two earned runs on eight hits and a walk with two strikeouts in four innings of work. Toledo starter Matt Kuna lasted four innings as he surrendered two earned runs on 11 hits and a walk with four strikeouts. NIU starter Chris Wakefield (Canton, Ga./Cherokee) pitched three innings, giving up four earned runs on seven hits and three walks with a strikeout.

"We walked too many guys in the first game," said Mathey. "We walked six, and you can't do that in this league. That's what's been going on lately. We are swinging the bats well enough and getting plenty of runs, but we just have to figure out a way to get outs. You need to get outs in baseball more than anything. We are just not doing that very well right now."

The Huskies jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning by taking advantage of three Toledo errors that lead directly to two runs on grounders hit by Dave Reynolds (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and Behm with runners aboard. Troy White (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) then got an RBI on a fielder's choice force out and Alex Beckmann (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) drove in the fourth run on an infield single to shortstop.

However, the Rockets came right back with four runs of their own to tie it. Dan Sherwood brought in the first run on a double to left with one out, and then Jason Edwards followed with a two-run single. Tim Krofcheck drove in the fourth run with two outs on a single to center.

"We just weren't making good pitches in that first inning, leaving a lot of them over the plate," said Mathey. "Chris Wakefield went out there and battled, but it shows that he hasn't had enough bullpen time and hasn't had consistent time to prepare as a starter because he has been fighting through a couple injuries. We made the pitching change early because we felt we needed to do that."

The Rockets took their first lead in the fourth on a one-out Hoying RBI double to right. But NIU took back the lead 6-5 in the bottom half with a pair of runs, one off a single by Reynolds, the other on a two-out single by Matt Behren (Elmwood Park, Ill./Holy Cross).

Toledo then scored the next three runs of the game with a pinch-hit two-out RBI double by Josh Wierzba in the fifth, and an Aaron Dudley RBI sacrifice fly and two-out RBI double by Oeaster in the sixth.

NIU then had two opportunities to score late runs, but come up short both times. In the seventh, the Huskies had the bases loaded with one out in down 9-7, but Joe Buonavolanto (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale South) hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat. Then in the eighth Jordin Hood (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) led off with a double to left-center, but NIU couldn't get him around to score either.

Hoying led the Rocket offense with three hits, a homer, four RBI and two runs. Edwards added two hits with three runs and two RBI, while Krofcheck had three hits with two runs and an RBI. Ben Hammer also had three hits and scored a pair of runs.

A season-high eight Huskies tallied multiple hits, led by Behm, who had three along with two runs and an RBI on his homer. Behren, White and Beckmann each had two hits and an RBI, while Buonavolanto and Hood had two hits and two runs apiece. Alex Jones (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) also had a pair of hits and a walk.

In game two, the Huskies overcame an early 4-0 first inning deficit to claim a 5-4 lead in the fourth, but Toledo took the lead right back in the fifth with two runs as Hoying drove in a run with a single and Dudley drove another in with a sacrifice fly.

"The second inning was pivotal today in the second game," Mathey said. "We had a runner on third with nobody out and we didn't get a run home there. That's the one thing our team needs to work on. Our situational hitting needs to get better."

The Rockets then added three more runs in the sixth and eighth innings. Jim Corfman walked with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball with two outs in the sixth. In the eighth, Hammer drove a pair in on a double to push the Toledo lead to 9-5.

NIU rallied for three in the bottom of the eighth to pull within a run 9-8 as Joe Etcheverry (Bakersfield, Calif./Centennial) led off with a single and moved to third on a pinch-hit double by Behren. A wild pitch then allowed Etcheverry to score and Behren to move to third with one out. Then with two outs, Jones doubled home a run and Buonavolanto reached on a bunt single to set up Hood, who delivered an RBI single through the left side. However, Reynolds struck out swinging to end the rally.

As they did in the first game, the Rockets fired right back to put the game out of reach in the ninth with three runs coming on a Hoying homer, Hammer double and Corfman double to extend the lead to four runs.

"We battled out there," Mathey said. "We were down 9-5 in the bottom of the eighth and all of sudden we have three runs, but it was all a moot point because we gave up three again in the ninth."

Toledo starter Mike Inselmann (2-4) earned the win despite giving up five earned runs on nine hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Matt Zahel (7) was credited with the save by throwing the final 1.1 innings, surrendering just three hits with three strikeouts. NIU starter Reynolds (0-3) took the loss after allowing six earned runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Both teams combined to score six runs in the first as Toledo tallied four with a three-run double by Hammer and a two-out RBI single by Corfman, while NIU got two from consecutive two-out RBI singles from Behm and Etcheverry.

The Huskies to their only lead of game two with a three-run fourth inning that was started by a lead-off double by Beckmann. Pat Minogue (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) followed with a triple to score Beckmann, and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jones. Hood then blasted a two-out solo homer (7) to left to put NIU up 5-4, but it was short lived.

The Toledo offense was led by Hammer, who went 3-for-5 with two runs and six RBI. Corfman and Hoying each tallied three hits as well and tallied a pair of RBI as Corfman scored a run and Hoying scored two.

The Huskie offense was led by Hood's 3-for-5 performance with two runs and two RBI, including his seventh homer of the year which is tied for his career-high that he achieved last season. Behm also totaled three hits as he did in the first game, while he added an RBI, too. Additionally, Etcheverry had two hits, a run and an RBI and Jones had a hit, a run and two RBI.

The Huskies return to the field on Tuesday for a midweek game against Illinois-Chicago (16-16, 10-2 Horizon) at 7:30 p.m. CT in Chicago as it is the first game of nine-game road trip for NIU.

Huskie Notes

- Hood was hit by a pitch in the first inning of game one, marking his 20th HBP of the year, which leads the nation.

- The Huskies have had a player get multiple hits in all but three games, led by Hood's 18.

- Behm hit his 22 career homerun in the bottom of the sixth in game one to put himself in sole possession of sixth-place on the all-time NIU list.

- Hood has a 13-game hitting streak, which is his second streak of 10 or more games as he had an 18-game streak earlier this season as well.

- The Huskies scored a run in the first inning for the 18th and 19th games and have done so in eight of their last nine games.

- NIU belted 10 or more hits for the 21st and 22nd times and for the eighth game in a row.