May 6, 2011
Final Stats
Final Box in PDF Format 
Northern Illinois 4, Eastern Michigan 3
Oestrike Stadium | Ypsilanti, Mich.
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
NIU
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
13
|
0
|
| EMU |
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
7
|
1
|
W: Oates (4-5) L: Wendzicki (4-5) S: Glancy (9)
|
|
|
Player of the Game
|
 |
Zach Oates
8 IP
6 H
3 ER
3 BB
8 SO
|
|
|
| |
YPSILANTI, Mich. - Northern Illinois ace Zach Oates outdueled his counterpart Rob Wendzicki as the Huskies received the go-ahead run from Alex Jones in the ninth to claim a 4-3 win in Game One of a three-game Mid-American Conference West Division series on Friday evening at Oestrike Stadium.
Tied 3-3 entering the ninth with both starters still in the game, leadoff hitter Jamison Wells started the Huskies (23-21, 11-8 MAC) out with a single to right field off Wendzicki. After reliever Kristian Calibuso entered the game and Cory Krupp's successful sacrifice bunt, Jones roped a 1-0 delivery to left field for the game-winning hit, ending EMU's (30-16, 12-7 MAC) impressive 11-game winning streak.
Replacing Oates to start the ninth, closer Kyle Glancy shut the door. Although the midseason National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year watch list member allowed a one-out double to Sam Ott, he induced Ken Battiston to fly out to right and Brent Ohrman to ground out to second, picking up his ninth save in 10 tries.
"Kyle was good," said NIU head coach Ed Mathey. "He hasn't had some game action in a while. He was good tonight. He did a nice job and was ahead of the count most of the time. He got a nifty play from Jake Hermsen to end the game. But he made the guys swing the bats, which is what you want to see with a lead in the ninth. I'm really happy to see him do a nice job."
Glancy's solid outing locked down a well-deserved win for Oates (4-5), who improved his career-high win total to four on the year. For the 11th time in as many tries, the tall right-hander lasted at least six innings as he threw eighth frames, allowing three earned runs on six hits and three walks with a career-high-tying eight strikeouts for the third time this season.
"Zach was a warrior today," Mathey said. "He did a great job. He had a glitch in the fifth with the walks, but he limited the damage to two runs. We probably extended him the farthest we've extended him in his career pitch-wise. He battled and was on top of his game most of the day. I'm happy he got the win out of the deal."
Spotted with a 1-0 lead in the first inning after another Jones RBI hit, Oates gave the run right back as a leadoff Battiston triple came around to score. But the senior would not allow the Eagles to score again until the fifth, which was the last time EMU was able to produce a run on the day.
"That was pretty good stuff from Wells and Jones in the first and ninth," said Mathey. "Jones rose to the occasion, he had a good night. Jamison Wells had a good night. Jeff Zimmerman had a great night swinging the bat. We took advantage of them early but their pitcher limited the damage and did a good job hanging tough."
By the time the bottom of the fifth rolled around, NIU had a 3-1 lead as Jeff Zimmerman launched his team-leading sixth home run over the left-center fence in the second and then added his seventh in the fifth inning over the right field fence. The two-homer performance was the first of the season for the freshman and the second of the year for NIU as he joined Troy White on the list.
Oates' fifth inning problems revolved around control issues as two of his three walks came in the inning. The first led off the inning, and after giving up a single, the second loaded the bases with no outs. Fortunately for Oates, both runs scored on outs. Ohrman grounded into a fielder's choice RBI and Zack Leonard followed with a sacrifice fly.
Both pitchers then settled in until the ninth. Oates allowed just two hits over his final three frames and left three runners on base. Wendzicki did nearly the same, giving up two hits and leaving two stranded. But it was the lead off ninth-inning single to Wells that ended up leading to the left-hander getting his fifth loss, as Wendzicki (4-5) surrendered four earned runs in eight-plus innings on 12 hits and no walks with eight strikeouts.
As one streak ended, another extended with the Huskies' third straight win, their fourth winning streak of at least three games in 2011. Coupled with Toledo's win over Central Michigan, the victory also broke the three-way tie atop the West. For the moment, UT is on top, CMU and EMU are tied for second and NIU is in third, just one game away from second and two from first.
"[Eastern Michigan is] a good ball club," Mathey said. "They are pretty confident. They pitch well and have weapons in their lineup. Our guys came in, hung tough, and thought we could win this game. Eastern's been on a big run. This was a big win with a chance to get the series tomorrow and own the tiebreaker. Maybe it will make them rethink what they need to do to get back on track while we are on a streak of our own, albeit smaller, but it's a good streak nonetheless."
The teams resume the series tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT and Sunday at noon. The scheduled pitching matchup for Saturday features NIU LHP Tom Barry (3-4 | 4.11 ERA) versus EMU RHP Corey Chaffins (6-3 | 4.81 ERA) while Sunday showcases NIU RHP Tony Manville (6-1 | 5.44 ERA) against EMU RHP Joe Battistelli (5-1 | 4.21 ERA).
-NIU-
