March 24, 2010

Final Stats

Final Box

DeKALB, Ill. - Better late than never. Four runs in the seventh inning and three in the eighth were all the Northern Illinois baseball team needed to claim a 7-5 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee (4-11) in NIU's home opener at Ralph McKinzie Field, Wednesday afternoon, as the Huskies (5-14) overcame a 4-0 deficit to earn its seventh home opening win in eight seasons under head coach Ed Mathey.

The NIU disadvantage began in the second due in part to a one-out balk by starter Tom Barry that helped the Panthers plate a pair of runs. Milwaukee then tallied another in the fourth on a sacrifice fly, and a solo home run in the sixth pushed the Panther lead to 4-0.

"The balk didn't bother me as much as the pitch after it did," said Mathey. "Tom had him 0-2 in the count, but if he throws the right pitch, he gets the out. He has to regroup after that, and that's what I talked to him about.

"Wisconsin-Milwaukee is an aggressive team and will attack the ball in the zone. Tom got them to hit some pop-ups, ground balls, and at'em balls to keep his pitch count down."

Then came the seventh frame, and similar to its series finale win over Southern Illinois, NIU used just a little patience. Cory Krupp started it off with an infield single, using his speed to force the short stop into a hurried play. Alex Jones drew a walk and Alex Beckmann followed with a single to center, in which the ball trickled out of the center fielder's glove on a diving attempt. Jordin Hood then walked to force in Krupp, and after a pitching change, Dave Reynolds walked to bring in Jones. On the next play, Troy White cashed in with an opposite field single to right to score Hood and Beckmann, tying the game at 4 and extending his career-long hitting streak to 12 games.

In the eighth, Jake Hermsen led off with a single through the left side and moved to second after Brian Riegler's sacrifice bunt attempt led to a throwing error by the pitcher, leaving both Huskies on-base. Following a Krupp sacrifice bunt, Jones broke it open with a two-run opposite field triple that split the left-center gap as the outfield was shaded in. One batter later, Jones scored on a wild pitch to push the NIU lead to 7-4.

"The seventh inning was fueled by walks, and Dave and Troy had good hits," Mathey said. "The eighth inning was fueled by their pitcher's fielding mistake. We did what we needed to do and closed it out in the ninth.

"Alex saw an outside fastball up in the zone and went with it," said Mathey. "He didn't do that earlier in the game. That triple might have been a double on a normal day because the outfield was rolled up a bit, but we brought Jamison Wells in to run for Riegler, and he did a good job. That was an important run for us."

The Panthers were able to get the tying run to second base, and go-ahead run to the plate, with two outs in the ninth against closer Andy Deain, but the NIU third all-time saves leader was able to get a ground out to second to end the threat.

"Yeah, Deain made it a little shaky, and he needs to learn from it, but for the most part he kept it together," said Mathey. "Fortunately for us, he was able to get one of their tougher hitters to roll one over to second base to get us out of it.

"It's good to be home."

Kyle Glancy (1-2) gathered his first collegiate win in relief by holding the Panthers scoreless over 1.2 innings, surrendering only a hit, after Barry posted a career-high tying 6.1 innings of work, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts. In his inning, Deain gave up a run on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts to register his fourth save of the season, 15th of his career.

Cuyler Franzke (2-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs on three hits and two walks in 1.2 innings in relief of starter Jayme Sukowaty, who threw 4.1 innings of four-hit baseball with a walk and five strikeouts.

Jones, who scored two runs, and White led the Huskie offense with two RBI apiece, while Beckmann, Reynolds and Hermsen each added two hits.

The Huskies will head to Bowling Green, Ohio this weekend for a three-game, three-day set against the Bowling Green Falcons to open up Mid-American Conference play.