Feb. 27, 2010

Final Stats

Final Box

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Similar to yesterday's contest, the Northern Illinois baseball team fell behind early and showed resilience as NIU rallied with two runs in the ninth inning only to come up short again, 4-3, against Austin Peay on Saturday afternoon at Raymond C. Hand Park in the second of a three-game series.

"We fought hard to get back into it and put ourselves in a position to win," said NIU head coach Ed Mathey. "When we are trailing and continue to fight back like this, we are going to win some games. Obviously, we'd rather be leading, not chasing."

After leaving three runners stranded in scoring position in the first two frames, the Huskies (0-5) fell behind in the third due in large part to a pair of fielding errors as the first two batters of the inning reached on miscues by freshman second baseman Jamison Wells (Combined Locks, Wis./Kimberly) and junior left fielder Cory Krupp (Cary, Ill./Santa Barbara City College). After a sacrifice bunt, second baseman Jon Clinard delivered an RBI single and center fielder Jared DeLong recorded an RBI fielder's choice to give the Governors (4-2) a 2-0 lead.

The Govs increased their lead in the fourth on a solo homer run from catcher Haskell Fink and added another in the fifth after consecutive one-out single, error and a stolen base set up right fielder Adam Browett, who drove in a run on an RBI ground out to give APSU a 4-0 advantage.

NIU left two more runners on in its half of the fifth before breaking through with a tally in the sixth. Senior center fielder Jordin Hood (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) started the frame off with a single and senior first baseman Dave Reynolds (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) was hit by an errant pitch from lefty starter Stephen Huff to set up sophomore third baseman Troy White's (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) RBI single. However, Huff recovered to strikeout the next three batters to escape the jam.

"The sixth inning was huge because we could have gotten more out of it," Mathey said. "Even if we hit into a double-play, we get another run out of that inning. We need to do a better job of putting the ball in play in those types of situations."

The Huskies then put the outcome in doubt again in the ninth against Govs closer Zach Gerler. Junior designated hitter Joe Etcheverry (Bakersfield, Calif./Centennial) began the inning with a single and sophomore pinch hitter Alex Beckmann (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) followed with a walk before junior pinch hitter Kevin Smith (Wheaton, Ill./North) singled to load the bases. After senior second baseman Joe Buonavolanto (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale South) struck out, Krupp came through with an RBI walk. Sophomore short stop Alex Jones (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) then struck out before Hood was hit by Gerler's offering to bring in another run and put the tying tally on third. But Reynolds flew out to end the rally and give the Govs the series win.

"Again, we need to put the ball in play and see what happens," Mathey said. "We had two pinch hitters in that inning. Kevin and Alex did a great job in those at-bats. The strikeouts hurt us today, though. We gave away three runs in the field and struck out too much. We need to figure out a better two-strike approach for our team."

Huff (1-0) earned the win by allowing one earned run on two hits and four walks with 11 strikeouts in seven innings of work. Gerler picked up his third save of the season despite surrendering a pair of earned runs in the ninth on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Huskie junior starter Zach Oates (Wheaton, Ill./North) took the loss (0-1) in just his second career start after allowing four runs, three unearned, on four hits and a walk with a career-high tying five strikeouts in a career-long seven innings.

"Zach was outstanding today," said Mathey. "We could not have asked for more in his first start. He probably could have gone longer but we didn't want to do that in his first outing. The only mistake he had all day was the homer, and that hit the top of the fence and the foul pole. If he can give us this type of effort on a consistent basis, we are going to be really happy."

Clinard led the APSU offense with two singles in four at-bats with a run and an RBI, while Hood led the Huskies with a 1-for-4 day, one run scored and an RBI. Additionally, Krupp reached base on three walks, drove in a run and stole his first base as a Huskie.

The teams will complete the series tomorrow with a 1 p.m. CDT contest.