April 23, 2011

Game One Final Stats | Game One Final Box in PDF Format

Game Two Final Stats | Game Two Final Box in PDF Format

G1: Northern Illinois 4, Toledo 3 G2: Toledo 8, Northern Illinois 1  Ralph McKinzie Field | DeKalb, Ill.

G 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E UT 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 1 NIU 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 12 1 W: Manville (6-1)  L: Radon (4-3) Box Score | Box Score Attendance: 239 G 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E UT 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 4 0 8 20 1 NIU 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 2 W: Rassi (3-4)  L: Barry (3-3) Box Score | Box Score Attendance: 149  Player of the Doubleheader Alex Jones 5-for-8 (.625) 2 2B 1 BB 1 RBI 1 R  Baseball Quick Links · 2011 Schedule/Results · 2011 Statistics · Head Coach Ed Mathey

 

DeKALB, Ill. - For just over three hours, Northern Illinois wrested first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division away from Toledo. But after a 4-3 walk-off win in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field, the Rockets bounced back for an 8-1 win, leaving the two teams right back where they started the day -- tied atop the division.

The dramatic win in Game One came off the bat of the reigning MAC West Division Player of the Week in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied, 3-3. With Alex Beckmann on second after a one-out double to left-center, Troy White served a delivery from Alex Radon to left field for NIU's first walk-off victory since April 20th of last season.

Getting a vulture-like win, Tony Manville (6-1) swooped in to get the final two outs of the ninth for Zach Oates and White handed Manville his MAC-best sixth straight win. While Manville got the official credit, it was Oates who was once again on top of his game. The tall right-hander allowed three runs (two earned) on only four hits and two walks with one strikeout in 8.1 innings. The main reason for his no-decision on the day came in the fourth inning as an error set up a two-run homer by Matt Delewski.

Other than Delewski's damage, the senior lasted at least six innings for the ninth straight start. Of his nine starts in 2011, Oates has held his opponent to three runs or less six times but only has a 3-5 record to show for it as NIU (18-18, 9-5 MAC) has been outscored 45-36 in Oates' starts.

"Game One, Zach Oates pitched very well, good enough to get the win," said NIU head coach Ed Mathey. "He deserved better than a no-decision, but that's baseball sometimes. We had some chances to extend the lead but we are happy with the outcome. We kept battling and pulled out the win."

The victory put NIU in sole possession of first place in the MAC West Division and moved the Huskies' record above .500 for the first time since May 12, 2008 -- briefly. Then, the second game happened.

Despite being outhit 8-2 through four innings of Game Two, the Huskies held a 1-0 lead and looked to be in prime position to sweep their second doubleheader of the season. With one out in the fourth, Joe Etcheverry broke up Lincoln Rassi's bid for a no-hitter by doubling to left. White followed with a single to left, and with Jeff Zimmerman at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Etcheverry to scoot home. The Huskies thought they might have just rattled Rassi and were figuring out how to handle him.

However, Toledo's (20-18, 9-5 MAC) hit parade continued and NIU's never really started, which would ultimately lead to runs being scored at some point for the Rockets. That point came in the fifth inning, as UT rallied for three runs and didn't look back.

Chris Dudics, who torched NIU for a 5-for-6 game, led off the fifth with a double and Tyler Grogg followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt that turned into a single. Ten hits into the game for Toledo, the Rockets' first run came on a sacrifice fly by Ben Hammer. After a Delewski double, Manville relieved Tom Barry on the mound. Following a strikeout of Jeff Cola, Manville wasn't as lucky in his second appearance as he gave up a two-out, two-run single to Joe Corfman, leaving the Huskies down 3-1.

"Game Two, different story. I have to give credit to Toledo for bouncing back after a ninth-inning loss [in Game One]," said Mathey. "They came out and swung the bats well. Tom Barry just didn't have his A-game today. They did a nice job with him. Tommy hung tough, all things considered. He scattered, if you will, 11 hits and it was time, in my opinion, to make a change. Unfortunately, Tony left a ball up to Corfman and he was opportunistic. Corfman has seemed to get the best of NIU over the years."

NIU had a good chance to retaliate in the sixth, after Alex Jones led off with a double, but poor baserunning kept the Huskies from scoring. An out later, White singled to right-center on a well-placed pop up but Jones didn't read the ball well and was only able to move to third base. Then Zimmerman hit a grounder to the pitcher, who saw Jones trying to sneak home out of his peripheral vision. Rassi promptly tossed home for an easy tag out and the Huskies did not come close to scoring after that.

Toledo then iced the game with a run in the seventh and four in the eighth as the Rockets ended the game with a 20-6 advantage in hits. Rassi (3-4) earned the win after allowing just one run on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in seven innings. Barry (3-3) took the loss for NIU after scattering 11 hits and one walk for three runs in 4.1 innings.

"Even with the hitting advantage they had, we were down two runs starting the seventh inning and I thought we had a chance to hang tough, get some guys on and maybe steal a win," Mathey said. "But the eighth inning, from a defensive standpoint, let us down. It was not a good way to end the day."

Jones led the offense on the day for NIU, going a combined 5-for-8 (.625). White extended his hitting streak to an NIU season-high 14 games, one shy of tying his career best streak from last season.

Holding the best spot in the MAC standings this late in the season since 2007, NIU's 18-8 record since dropping the first 10 contests of the year has the Huskies hitting stride at the right time. Searching for their fourth straight MAC series win, the Huskies like where they are at.

"We are going to have to regroup, refocus and get the series tomorrow," said Mathey. "This late in the season, to be playing for first place is fun. We understand it and they understand it on the other side of the field, too. It's a great thing, it really is. There's no better place for us to be than fighting for first place."

The teams will complete the series tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. CT as righty Jeremy Gonzales (4-4 | 5.54 ERA) is scheduled to take the bump for NIU in the rubber match.