Games 47-49
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Overall |
Conference |
Home |
Away |
Neutral |
Streak |
Last 5 |
Last 10 |
| Northern Illinois |
24-22
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12-9
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8-6
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13-9
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3-7
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W 1
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4-1
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6-4
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Ball State
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12-32
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8-12
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6-10
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6-20
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0-2
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L 7
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0-5
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1-9
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The Mound Matchups
Fri., May 13 @ 3:05 p.m. CT vs. Ball State at Ralph McKinzie Field
RHP Zach Oates (4-5 | 4.15 ERA) vs. RHP Cal Bowling (4-5 | 3.15 ERA)
Sat., May 14 @ 1:05 p.m. CT vs. Ball State at Ralph McKinzie Field
LHP Tom Barry (3-5 | 3.48 ERA) vs. LHP Derek Grabner (1-5 | 5.40 ERA)
Sun., May 15 @ 1:05 p.m. CT vs. Ball State at Ralph McKinzie Field
RHP Tony Manville (7-1 | 4.79 ERA) vs. LHP Devin Wilburn (1-1 | 5.54 ERA) |
| Game Coverage |
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All three games will have live stats via GameTracker on NIUHuskies.com.
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| The Leadoff |
NIU enters the series in third place in the Mid-American Conference West Division after a strong five games last week. The Huskies won both midweek tilts against Valparaiso and at Illinois Chicago before taking two of three on the road at Eastern Michigan last weekend.
With class finals done and Ball State coming to town, the Huskies are presented with the opposite situation they faced last weekend, when NIU had to face a hot EMU squad, who was on an 11-game winning streak, on the road. This weekend, NIU is at home facing a BSU team that has dropped seven straight games.
Having already faced each of the teams (EMU, Toledo and Central Michigan) that are ahead of the Huskies in the MAC West, NIU has a great opportunity to make up ground on all three teams in its final two league series. The Huskies stand just one game back of the second place tie between EMU and UT, and hold the tiebreaker over both, and two games behind leader CMU.
The Weather.com forecast for the weekend calls for temperatures in the mid-70s and a 60% chance of rain Friday; temperatures in the mid-50s with a 60% chance of rain Saturday and 40% chance Sunday.
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| Future, Now and Back Then Weekend |
With this weekend marking the last home games for NIU, the Huskies have three special events lined up for Sunday’s finale. First and foremost, the eight seniors on the team will be honored with a pregame ceremony. Fans will also be able to catch a glimpse of the past and future of NIU baseball as the Huskies will be hosting prospective high school juniors and former Huskies.
Any prospective high school juniors that are interested in finding out what NIU baseball is all about are welcome to meet at Ralph McKinzie Field at 11 a.m. CT Sunday. After checking in and meeting the coaching staff, the prospects will be taken on a tour of the athletic facilities before being briefed on the NCAA recruiting guidelines and eating lunch, which includes food and a beverage for $6. Then they will get to enjoy the Ball State-Northern Illinois game at 1:05 p.m.
For all NIU baseball alumni, there will be a check-in table at Ralph McKinzie Field along with a pregame tailgate tent beyond the right field fence. There will also be a celebratory gathering at Fatty’s Pub & Grille following the game. |
| The All-Time Series |
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BSU leads the all-time series, 34-23-1, against NIU. The Cardinals swept the Huskies last season (2-0 | 8-2 | 7-6) on May 14-16 in Muncie, Ind.
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Caging the Eagles
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| The NIU pitching staff effectively shut down the potent Eastern Michigan offense over the weekend en route to taking two games of the three-game stint in Ypsilanti, Mich. Tom Barry, Kyle Glancy, Tony Manville, and Zach Oates combined to allow a total of five runs on 14 hits to EMU, who entered the series with a nation-best 11-game winning streak. The Eagles remained the MAC’s leading offense after the set, dropping to a .298 clip with a league-best 311 runs. The Huskies, meanwhile, ratcheted down its team ERA a quarter run to 5.07. |
| 20-20 Vision |
| NIU’s 14-1 win at Bradley on April 6th marked the 20th victory of the year. In Mathey’s nine seasons as skipper, NIU has failed to win 20 or more games just two times. |
| Stop and Watch, Take a Glance |
Since starting the year 8-for-8 in saves, junior closer Kyle Glancy has attracted attention from around the country. On April 21, the Oak Park, Ill., native was named to the 2011 midseason National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NBCWA) Stopper of the Year watch list. Glancy is the first to receive recognition on the list since NIU all-time saves leader Matt German (2004-07) was a finalist for the award in 2007.
In his first season at the back of the Huskie bullpen, Glancy has excelled and is one of the most improved players in the Mid-American Conference. The former setup man and part-time starter picked up his first career save against Illinois on March 18, and has not looked back. Glancy converted each of his first eight save attempts before coming up short on April 24 in a win over Toledo.
Prior to the season, the Oak Park, Ill., native had a career 8.21 ERA in 72.1 innings. Through 23.2 innings in 2011, Glancy has a team-leading 1.90 ERA over 19 appearances, 13 of which have been scoreless. He’s holding opponents to a .236 batting average and has chalked up 18 strikeouts. Even better, Glancy has been the toughest Huskie to hit against with runners on base, allowing a .172 average.
As of May 9th, Glancy’s ten saves rank second in the Mid-American Conference. As of May 8th, the Oak Park-River Forest High School product ranks 23rd in the nation in saves.
One of three MAC representatives on the 46-person list, Glancy shares the spotlight in the league with Kent State’s Kyle McMillen and Toledo’s Matt Zahel. |
| Mr. Jones and Me |
| Few MAC hitters have been able to keep up with shortstop Alex Jones over his last 13 games. The junior is hitting .519 (28-for-54) with 16 RBI, 12 runs, nine doubles, two triples, three stolen bases and two walks. The hot streak has catapulted Jones to the team lead in batting average (.356), RBI (39), hits (68), and doubles (15). |
| Whiteout |
| It took Troy White 464 collegiate at-bats before he launched his first Huskie home run in the second game of the April 17 doubleheader at Ohio. The junior third baseman didn’t wait nearly as long to hit his second; White drove a Bobcat offering over the left-field wall for a fifth-inning grand slam three at-bats later. When the damage was totaled for the day, White had notched a career-best seven RBI. |
| Man of the Hour |
| Tony Manville picked up two wins during the week of April 11, catapulting him near the top of the MAC in the category. The redshirt junior limited Illinois State to one run over 5.2 innings last April 12 to notch his fourth W. Coach Mathey called on Manville again April 17 at Ohio, this time from the bullpen, to give the Huskies seven strong innings of long relief en route to victory number five. In his two victorious decisions, Manville put together a 1.42 ERA and 1.26 WHIP as he allowed three runs (two earned) on 11 hits and five walks with seven strikeouts over 12.2 innings. Manville earned his sixth-straight decision in relief versus Toledo on April 23, and added a team-leading seventh victory on Sunday at Eastern Michigan in a career-best 8.1-innings, three-hit effort. |
| It's Not How You Start ... |
Since starting the season 0-10, the Huskies have gone 24-12. Oddly enough, it wasn’t a streak of games at Ralph McKinzie Field, where NIU is 110-69-1 since 2003, that turned the season around. It was a string of games away from DeKalb that jump-started a tremendous run, and the Huskies have done little wrong since beginning a five-game winning streak on March 16 against North Dakota in St. Louis.
During this successful stretch, NIU is 13-5 on the road, 3-1 in neutral sites and only 8-6 at home.
More importantly, the Huskies won four straight MAC series for the first time since starting the 2007 season, and have won five of seven series overall. Much of the run has come because of improved pitching. Prior to its first win, the pitching staff owned an ERA just south of 9.00. Over the last 33 games, the same staff has posted an ERA just over 4.00, nearly a five-run difference. |
National Treasure
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By virtue of tossing his first complete game shutout in a 2-0 victory over Miami on April 10, senior Jeremy Gonzales held his opponent scoreless in four of five straight starts. “Gonzo” was near perfect in that outing (perfect through 5.2 innings); the senior walked none, surrendered a mere three hits, and tied a season high by sending seven RedHawks down on strikes. The stellar start gave him his first career MAC West Pitcher of the Week award and NIU’s second ever National Pitcher of the Week winner as Gonzales was selected as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Pro-Line Athletic National Pitcher of the Week. The senior would extend his scoreless innings streak to 26 before giving up a run at Ohio on April 17.
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MAC Plaque Attack
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With Alex Jones earning the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week award April 25th for the second time in his career and 2011 season, the Huskies had garnered the honor in four consecutive weeks. Troy White picked up NIU’s first of the season on March 1, and three weeks later (March 23), Jones and Zach Oates swept the weekly hitting and pitching accolades. Then, the Huskies were represented in all four weeks of April as Joe Etcheverry (April 4), Jeremy Gonzales (April 11) and White (April 18) were recognized. The sweep that Oates and Jones pulled off on March 23 marked the second such occurrence in program history. The dual occurrence last happened on March 6, 2006, when first baseman Scott Simon and pitcher Nick Hall turned the trick.
NIU’s seven MAC weekly awards in 2011 have eclipsed the previous single season high mark of six, which was accomplished in each of the 2007 and 2004 campaigns. Overall, 30 players (16 hitters, 14 pitchers) have achieved the accolade under head coach Ed Mathey since 2003.
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| No Longer Shutout by Shutouts |
| In the Huskies’ 2-0 win over Miami on April 10, the Huskies notched their fifth shutout of the season. The last time NIU had five shutouts in a season was in 1996. Prior to the first shutout of the year on March 16 against North Dakota, NIU had gone 108 games between shutouts. Together, the Huskies tossed five shutouts over a 26-game stretch. The second came in a 3-0 over Illinois on March 17, the third on March 27 in a 3-0 victory versus Bowling Green, and the fourth in a 7-0 over Buffalo on April 3. |
Leaders of the MAC
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| A handful of Huskies are among the Mid-American Conference’s leaders in various categories, as of May 9th. Alex Jones is tied for the hits lead (68), tied for second in RBI (39), tied for third in doubles (15) and triples (5), fifth in batting average (.356) and total bases (99), and 10th in slugging percentage (.518); Jamison Wells is second in stolen bases (21) and fifth in runs scored; Jeff Zimmerman is tied for fourth in home runs (7) and is eighth in slugging percentage (.524); Joe Etcheverry is fourth in walks (31) and ninth in on-base percentage (.435); Troy White is tied for fourth in triples (4) and is 10th in runs scored. Tony Manville shares second in wins (7); Kyle Glancy has the second-most saves (10); Zach Oates leads in innings per start (7.09). As a team, NIU has hurled the second-most shutouts (5), drawn the second-most walks (192), scored the third-most runs (261) and ranks fourth in batting average (.277). |
Luck of the Irish
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| The Huskies are 2-0 with the luck of the green jerseys they donned in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Even better, NIU has not given up a run yet. The first win came on March 17 at Rent One Park in Marion, Ill., against Illinois. The second was the following Sunday at home over Bowling Green. Both games were won 3-0 by NIU. On March 17, the Huskies wore green jerseys and hats to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The ensuing Sunday, NIU held a silent auction for the green jerseys at Fatty’s Pub & Grille in DeKalb after the win against the Falcons. The successful event’s proceeds went directly to the NIU baseball program. |
| All-Tournament |
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Three Huskies have taken home all-tournament honors this season. Junior Troy White and freshman Jeff Zimmerman both grabbed the accolade at Texas Tech’s Brooks Wallace Memorial Classic Feb. 25-27. White hit .500 (9-for-18) and led the team with four RBI along with four runs scored, two doubles and two triples. Zimmerman hit .625 (5-for-8) with two RBI and a run scored.
The following weekend, Zimmerman garnered the honor again, sharing the spotlight with sophomore Jamison Wells, at Arizona State’s Coca-Cola Classic. Wells hit.529 (9-for-17) with five runs scored, four RBI and two steals. Zimmerman hits .400 (6-for-15) with two runs and an RBI.
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Spring Training Experience
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The games from March 3-6 were held at the Surprise Stadium Complex, Spring Training home of the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers. The Huskies took in a few Major League Baseball Spring Training games and met with some of the players. NIU also followed a Chicago Cubs-Royals contest before facing Arizona State at Surprise Stadium. The occurrence was the second in as many years for the Huskies, as they also followed an Atlanta Braves-Milwaukee Brewers game at Miller Park last year on May 12.
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Zimm has Zing
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First baseman/designated hitter Jeff Zimmerman has made a splash in his freshman season. He leads the team with seven home runs, and checks in second to Alex Jones with both a .329 average and 36 RBI. The freshman sensation also paces the club with 12 multi-RBI games.
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The "Ralph" Advantage
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Under Mathey, the Huskies are 110-69-1 at Ralph McKinzie Field, home of Huskie baseball, and a 7-5 win over Milwaukee March 24th, 2010 gave NIU its seventh win in its last eight openers. An 11-7 mark last season gave the Huskies their seventh above .500 season in their last eight at “The Ralph.” Thus far, NIU is 8-6 at home in 2011.
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Illi-Noise
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The Huskies are 10-2 against Illinois opponents in 2011. Twice NIU took down Illinois, Bradley, Chicago State and Illinois Chicago, with the other victories coming over Southern Illinois and Illinois State. The two losses were to Aurora and Illinois State. NIU was 5-3 against Illinois foes in 2010. In eight seasons under head coach Ed Mathey, the Huskies are 66-29 versus intrastate opponents.
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Streaks
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Zach Badgley: Three straight scoreless and hitless outings covering three innings.
Joe Battaglia: Reached base safely in four straight games.
Alex Beckmann: Reached base safely in four straight games.
Joe Etcheverry: Reached base safely in six straight games; five-game hitting streak.
Tony Manville: Seven-game winning streak; five-game winning streak in games he’s started.
Zach Oates: Thrown at least six innings in all 11 of his starts.
Marvin Sanchez: Reached base safely in four straight games.
Jeff Zimmerman: Five-game hitting streak.
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Pro Huskies
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NIU has hosted at least one game in a professional ball park in each season since 2005. The Huskies have played and won four games at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva, Ill., home of the Kansas City Royals’ Low-A affiliate Kane County Cougars. The Huskies return to “The Elf” in 2011 against UW-Milwaukee on April 27. In 2008, NIU hosted No. 29 Notre Dame at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Ill., home of the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox. NIU and White Sox raised over $65,000 for the NIU February 14 Forward, Together Forward Scholarship Fund. In 2009, NIU hosted Milwaukee at Road Ranger Stadium in Loves Park, Ill., home of the Northern League’s Rockford RiverHawks. The Huskies also faced Northwestern at Road Ranger Stadium last season, marking NIU’s first two games in the Rockford area and the first two Division I baseball games at the stadium.
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Huskie Pros
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At least one Huskie has signed a Major League Baseball contract in each of head coach Ed Mathey’s eight years at NIU. Overall, 24 NIU players have signed pro contracts under Mathey, and seven have been selected in the MLB Amateur Draft.
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Boys of Summer
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| A quartet of Huskies earned all-star nods during the summer of 2010 as they were competing in various wooden bat summer leagues. In the Prospect League All-Star Game, Alex Jones represented the Quincy Gems while Alex Beckmann and Tom Zelasko represented the DeKalb County Liners. Joe Etcheverry represented the San Louis Obispo Rattlers in the California Collegiate League. |
Wells Rounded
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Being an exceptional athlete, Wells not only plays baseball for Northern Illinois, he also plays wide receiver on the football team. Wells was a three-year letterwinner at Kimberly High School in Combined Locks, Wis., earning two-way Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFC) first team all-state, two-way WFCA all-region, and 2008 WFCA Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. He was also named to the Associated Press’ 2008 Wisconsin all-state football team at both wide receiver and defensive back.
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| It's All In The Family |
Zach Badgley is the fourth member of his family to take the mound for Northern Illinois, following Dan (1997-2001), Mark (2003-07) and Nick (2008-09). Since 1997, there has only been one season (2002) of NIU baseball without a Badgley family member.
Ben and Joe Etcheverry are one of 35 pairs of brothers that play NCAA Division I baseball on the same team. The Etcheverrys are also one of five brother duos in the Mid-American Conference. |
| On Deck |
The Huskies will travel to Milwaukee, Wis., to face the UW-Milwaukee Panthers on Tuesday, May 17, at 3:05 p.m. CT in their lone midweek contest before traveling to Western Michigan that weekend for their final MAC regular season series.
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