April 30, 2011
Final Stats
Final Box in PDF Format 
Central Michigan 3, Northern Illinois 1
Theunissen Stadium | Mount Pleasant, Mich.
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1 |
2 |
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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R
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H
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E
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NIU
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0
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0
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0 |
0
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0
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0
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1
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0
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0
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1
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3
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0
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| CMU |
0
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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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1
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0
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X
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3
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7
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1
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W: Cooper (3-3) L: Barry (3-4)
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Player of the Game
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Tom Barry
6 IP
5 H
2 ER
8 SO
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MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Northern Illinois baseball team could not scratch away enough runs to support starter Tom Barry's sharp outing in a 3-1 defeat Saturday afternoon at Theunissen Stadium.
"Their [pitcher] did a good job today," said NIU head coach Ed Mathey. "He kept us off balance. It was not a hitter's day with wind blowing in. We still didn't get a lot going on offense though. I give credit to their pitcher."
The Huskies (20-20, 10-7 Mid-American Conference) and Chippewas (22-20, 10-6 MAC) were locked in a stalemate through five-and-a-half innings before CMU broke things up with a pair of scores. NIU starter Tom Barry had given up only three hits over his first five innings until the game-changing sixth. After striking out the leadoff batter, Barry allowed a double to second baseman Jordan Dean. A wild pitch, a walk, and Barry's second punchout of the frame put runners on the corners with two out.
CMU left fielder Tom Howard poked a 1-2 offering into right field for a three-bagger, knocking in the first two Chippewa runs of the game. Barry would strand Howard on third, but the damage was done.
"Tommy threw the ball fine today," said Mathey. "What happened to Tommy was they made him work today. He threw a lot of pitches early and got his pitch count up there. He left a breaking ball over the plate to one of their guys and he put a good swing on it, got the barrel on it. Unfortunately, he hit it to the right part of the field. That's baseball.
"Tommy pitched well enough to win a baseball game today, though. We just didn't' do enough offensively to help him. Three hits just doesn't do a lot for you."
An NIU rally in the next frame would cut the lead in two. Troy White led things off with a four-pitch walk, and then advanced to third on a Jeff Zimmerman single up the middle. With Huskie runners on the corners, left fielder Jordan Rishavy grooved a single through the right side to drive in White.
Zimmerman and Rishavy wouldn't score, however, as the Huskie offensive engine sputtered. Chippewa southpaw Mike Nixon nixed any NIU comeback aspirations after the seventh in his two hitless innings of relief to earn the save for CMU.
Starter Tom Barry (3-4) finished the game with a career-high eight strikeouts in spite of the lack of run support. The junior could only go six quality innings due strikeouts and walks inflating a 116-pitch outing. Ben Etcheverry and Tony Manville held the Chippewas to one run in relief to close out the game.
Alex Beckmann added the Huskies' third hit, and only one outside the seventh inning rally. The fifth-inning single extended the second baseman's streak of reaching base to seven. Troy White saw his team- and career-best 17-game hitting streak snapped, but extended his run of games reaching base safely to an impressive 27.
The loss moves CMU a game ahead of the Huskies in the MAC West hunt. Eastern Michigan's loss today gives the Chippewas a share of the lead heading into the NIU/CMU series finale 1 p.m. (CT) Sunday in Mount Pleasant. Jeremy Gonzales (4-4 | 6.13 ERA) will go for the Huskies against Chippewas righty Jake Sabol (3-3 | 4.10 ERA).
-NIU-
