April 29, 2011
Final Stats
Final Box in PDF Format 
Central Michigan 7, Northern Illinois 6
Theunissen Stadium | Mount Pleasant, Mich.
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NIU
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6
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17
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W: Enns (6-1) L: B. Etcheverry (2-1)
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MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Northern Illinois came six outs short of a win as Robbie Harman executed a walk-off suicide squeeze to give Central Michigan the victory in Game One of a three-game Mid-American Conference series on Friday afternoon at Theunissen Stadium.
Entering the eighth with a 6-5 lead, NIU (20-19, 10-6 MAC) freshman Alex Klonowski relieved starter Zach Oates, who threw seven innings and allowed five runs on 13 hits and two walks with four strikeouts, marking the 10th straight start that the tall righty has gone six innings or more. Unfortunately, the rookie could not hold the lead for Oates as he surrendered a solo home run to the first batter, Tyler Hall.
"Their best hitter hit a pitch off Alex to tie it up; they had the right guy up at the right time and Alex caught a little too much of the plate with a pitch," said NIU head coach Ed Mathey.
NIU turned to sophomore Ben Etcheverry in the ninth to preserve the game, but he was unable to do so. The first two hitters reached base on singles and then Etcheverry intentionally walked the third hitter to load the bases. The strategy worked on the first batter, Rod Helsen, who grounded into a force out at home. However, the Huskies could do nothing with Harman's perfectly-executed squeeze bunt that followed.
"They led off the ninth with a hit on defensive swing and made a bold play by using a hit-and-run instead of bunt," said Mathey. "They didn't have the fastest runner on third, but they just executed the squeeze play well. It didn't catch us totally by surprise, but it was just placed perfectly. Ben made a decent pitch but their batter did a nice job with it."
The walk-off play gave Dietrich Enns (6-1) the win after two innings of scoreless relief and dealt Etcheverry (2-1) his first loss of the season.
The no-decision for Oates was a tough one to take, especially after he outlasted one of the MAC's top hurlers, Trent Howard. The CMU (22-20, 10-6 MAC) ace entered the weekend with a 4-3 record and miniscule 1.88 ERA, but the Huskie offense ran him out of the game after just three innings and allowing four runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
"Zach wasn't on his A-game today," Mathey said. "They hit him pretty well. He did a good job of battling, but it was just one of those days where he wasn't as sharp. I give credit to Central Michigan for executing their game plan against us.
"We got into the bullpen early, though, and saw some of their quality arms in the bullpen. That could play out to our advantage as the series unfolds."
All four runs off Howard came in the second on a three-run blast by Brett Frantini, his second of the season, and RBI single by Cory Krupp. The crooked inning erased a two-run deficit as Oates gave up a run in each of the first two innings.
After the Chippewas took command of the game again with three runs in the third, NIU bounced back in the fifth. Reigning MAC West Division Player of the Week Alex Jones drove in the first run on a fielder's choice and later scored on a Joe Etcheverry RBI single. The Huskies would then hang on to the lead until the fateful final two frames.
With the big hit, Frantini extended his hitting streak to a career-long nine games, while Troy White went 1-for-1 with three walks to increase his career-best hitting streak to 17 games.
Now tied atop the MAC West Division, the teams meet for the second game of the series tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT. The scheduled pitching matchup features NIU LHP Tom Barry (3-3 | 4.28 ERA) versus CMU RHP Zach Cooper (2-3 | 3.60 ERA).
-NIU-
