May 21, 2010

Final Stats

Final Box

DeKALB, Ill. - Jeremy Gonzales dominated Western Michigan in a Northern Illinois 5-2 win Friday afternoon, allowing just three hits in a complete-game effort on the mound of Ralph McKinzie Field.

If it weren't for two mistakes, the junior would have added a shutout to his performance, but he gave up two solo home runs in an otherwise outstanding work of art. The first homer came in the second inning off the bat of Kyle Galbraith and the second was by Jimmy Martinez in the eighth inning. The only other hit Gonzales gave up was in the fourth to Ryan McMillin with two outs. He then retired the next eight batters before walking McMillin in his next at-bat in the seventh but induced Tim Cross into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. He also took care of the first two batters of the eighth before retiring the final four batters of the game after the Martinez long-ball.

"The old adage about solo home runs came true today: they don't hurt you," said NIU head coach Ed Mathey. "The thing Jeremy did, even though he wasn't sharp early, he kept working. He limited the walks for the most part and made big pitches when he needed to. He was very good today for us. I'm very proud of him, I'm very happy for him. It was a great outing."

In the right-hander's second complete game of the season, he leveled his record to 4-4 with the win and lowered his ERA to 4.30 to finish his junior campaign with this line: nine innings pitched, three hits, two runs, three walks, four strikeouts, 32 batters faced, 115 pitches.

In their second straight Mid-American Conference victory over the Broncos (12-41, 5-21 MAC), the Huskies (23-31, 11-15 MAC) sealed their third MAC series win of the season and notched their fourth three-game winning streak.

With the scored tied 1-1 in the fourth and Jordin Hood on second after a single and steal, Dave Reynolds delivered a one-out RBI single to left off WMU starter Chris Bossenbery to take a lead that the Huskies would continue to add to en route to handing Bossenbery the loss. In 5.1 innings, Bossenbery allowed three runs on five hits and two walks with one strikeout to drop his record to 2-5.

"We weren't killing the ball today," Mathey said. "Their starting pitcher was effective down in the zone. He was ahead in the count in the early innings but I thought as they game wore on he left the ball up a bit. He seemed to get a little tired.

"We took advantage of a blown hit-and-run call in the fourth inning. Fortunately enough, Hood is fast and was able to steal second and Dave Reynolds picked up Joe Etcheverry with the RBI."

NIU got to Bossenbery again in the fifth after Alex Beckmann drew a walk and moved to second on a Jamison Wells sacrifice bunt. Joe Buonavolanto then stepped to the dish and came through with a single up the middle to score Beckmann.

The Huskies then put the game out of reach in the seventh with two outs. Brett Frantini started the inning by reaching on a fielding error by third baseman Patrick Duncan. Two outs later, Buonavolanto produced again, this time dropping a bunt down the third base line for a single to keep the frame going. Alex Jones followed with an opposite field double down the left field line to score Frantini. As left fielder Martinez bobbled the ball on its ricochet off the fence, Buonavolanto was able to score from first base on the play to give NIU a 5-1 advantage that WMU would not overcome.

"Jones' at-bat in the seventh was a big at-bat because we scored a couple of runs," said Mathey. "Joe Buonavolanto was hustling the whole way, and once he saw their fielder bobble the ball, he was able to score."

Buonavolanto's two hits, two runs and one RBI led the NIU offense, while Jones also had two hits and an RBI.

With Miami's (Ohio) 8-1 win over Ohio yesterday, the Huskies' hopes of qualifying for the MAC Tournament came to an end, making tomorrow's 1:05 p.m. CST series finale the last game of the 2010 slate as they look to complete their first conference series sweep.