March 30, 2011
Final Stats
Final Box in PDF Format 
Aurora 7, Northern Illinois 6 (11)
Ralph McKinzie Field | DeKalb, Ill.
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1 |
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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10
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11
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R
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H
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E
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AU
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0
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0
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0
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0
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2
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0
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0
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4
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0
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0
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1
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7
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10
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2
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1
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2
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1
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1
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0
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1
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0
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0
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0
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0
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6
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8
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1
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W: Munoz (1-0) L: Badgley (0-1)
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Player of the Game
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Trey Lang
1-for-2
2 RBI
1 R
1 HR
1 BB
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DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois entered the eighth inning leading 6-2, but a four-run frame by Aurora knotted the game, changed momentum and led to an eventual 7-6 win for the Spartans in the 11th inning Wednesday evening at Ralph McKinzie Field.
The eighth started rather harmlessly as Tom Zelasko entered the game at the beginning of the inning and fanned the first batter. But then the lefty walked Ryan Payne and gave up a single to Bobby Wilson. Zelasko struck out Anthony Amedei on the next sequence and looked like he was going to escape with no damage up 0-2 on the next batter, Tim Mackey. However, Zelasko left his next pitch over the middle of the plate and Mackey smashed it for a two-run triple to center. With Zelasko reeling , Ryan Adams followed with a two-run home run to right field to tie the game up before NIU head coach Ed Mathey had to call on Kyle Glancy to get NIU to the bottom half of the inning.
"I told our guys that [Aurora] would come in here with something to prove, and they did," said Mathey. "Aurora played hard; they played with energy. They felt like they had a chance to win. I thought we were fairly efficient with our opportunities to score. That eighth inning just bred life into them. You could tell who was on their heels at that point."
"I thought we had a good approach early. We were being a little too aggressive later in the game. We just didn't get the top half of the ball enough. It's a tough loss, no doubt about that."
With momentum on the Spartans' (8-5) side, the Huskies (7-14) still had two prime opportunities to go ahead again but came up short both times. The first came in the bottom of the eighth as Jordan Rishavy delivered a pinch-hit lead-off single and was bunted over by Kevin Smith. But Trey Lang and Jamison Wells failed to drive Rishavy in.
The second chance the Huskies had was in the ninth after Cory Krupp led off with a single. Alex Jones bunted him to second and Joe Etcheverry was intentionally walked to set up Troy White. Unfortunately for NIU, White scalded a one-hopper to third and Mackey fielded it cleanly, stepped on third and threw to first in time for an inning-ending double play.
After Glancy walked the tight rope in the 10th, getting a two-out bases-loaded groundout to first off the end of the bat of Joe Singraber, the Huskies weren't as lucky in the 11th. Brett VanAsdlen doubled off Zach Badgley with one out and moved to third on a groundout to short. Following a Payne walk, VanAsdlen scored on a wild pitch that was the first offering to Wilson, who would eventually go down looking to end the inning.
Tom Kotis started the 11th for NIU with a bunt single but went no farther on the bases as Aurora prevented the Huskies from achieving their second winning streak of the season and remaining perfect in five contests against Illinois schools.
Badgley (0-1) took the loss for NIU, only its fourth in the last 11 games. The right-hander gave up the lone run on one hit and one walk with one strikeout in his only inning of work.
NIU starter Jake Hermsen took a no-decision from a rather successful outing, recovering from a less than stellar start against Illinois Mar. 18. The left-hander allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and four walks in five innings with six strikeouts.
"Jake, his big thing is when he works ahead in the count, he's effective," said Mathey. "Today when he was ahead he was effective and when he was behind he wasn't so much. That's the thing that Jake needs to keep progressing on. He threw a lot of pitches. He did get himself out of a few jams, but those extra pitches add up."
Finishing the final 5.1 innings for the Spartans, Jose Munoz picked up the win (1-0). The lefty allowed just one run on three hits and two walks with one strikeout.
Before the eighth inning collapse, NIU jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Wells scored on a wild pitch in the first. Jeff Zimmerman and Alex Beckmann scored on sacrifice flies by Kevin Smith and Lang in the second, respectively. Lang then launched a screaming line drive of the left-center wall for a solo homer, his first at the collegiate level. After Aurora answered with two runs in the fifth, Etcheverry blasted a towering shot to right for his first homer of the season, another of the solo variety. The Huskies set their advantage back to four runs in the seventh, as Krupp scored on a first-and-third double steal.
"I felt that our energy level was very similar to Game One and Game Two against Bowling Green," Mathey said. "We didn't come in to grind it out. We let them stay in the ball game and it came back to bite us. We have to be ready to play every day and that's something that we are hopefully learning."
Lang's two RBI day led the Huskies. In going 1-for-2, he also reached on a walk. Krupp got on base three times as well, doing so with a hit and two walks in four at-bats.
The Huskies travel to New York this weekend to play a three-game Mid-American Conference series against Buffalo. Due to snowy field conditions, the games will be played at St. Bonaventure's Fred Handler Park at McGraw-Jennings Field. The teams will play two games Saturday and one Sunday, both starting at noon CT.
-NIU-
