Game 56
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Overall |
Conference |
Home |
Away |
Neutral |
Streak |
Last 5 |
Last 10 |
| Northern Illinois |
29-26
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16-11
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10-7
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16-11
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3-8
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L 1
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2-3
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6-4
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Bowling Gren
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20-30
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11-14
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9-10
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8-16
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1-1
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L 1
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2-3
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5-5
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The Mound Matchup
Thurs., May 26 @ 11:30 a.m. CT vs. Bowling Green at VA Memorial Stadium (Chillicothe, Ohio)
LHP Tom Barry (4-5 | 3.93 ERA) vs. RHP Charles Wooten (5-6 | 3.59 ERA)
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| Game Coverage |
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All games during the 2011 MAC Baseball Tournament will have live stats and video on MAC-Sports.com.
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| The Leadoff |
In making their first appearance in the MAC Tournament since 2008, finiished second in the MAC West Division regular season standings and grabbed the fourth seed in the postseason, which were also last accomplished in 2008, setting a program record at the time.
After losing to No. 5 seed Eastern Michigan in a 4-2 pitching duel in its first round game, NIU faces an elimination contest against No. 8 seed Bowling Green, who fell 6-2 to No. 1 Kent State in the first round. Over the last two years, the Huskies and Falcons have each taken two of three from the other on the road. NIU did it at BGSU last year to start the MAC slate and the Falcons returned the favor in 2011, giving the Huskies one of their two MAC series losses on the nine-series season.
The winner of Thursday’s game moves on to face the loser of the No. 1 Kent State-No. 5 Eastern Michigan contest at 8 a.m. CT on Friday.
In NIU’s last appearance in the league postseason, the Huskies took down No. 5 Ball State before falling to No. 1 Kent State, which forced another game against BSU. After beating the Cardinals again, NIU had a rematch with KSU and lost. The two wins marked the second year in a row that NIU had won a program-best two games in the MAC Tournament.
The Weather.com forecast for the game calls for temperatures in the 70s, cloudy and a 40% chance of showers.
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The All-Time Series
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The Falcons own a 19-10-1 lead in the all-time tilt against NIU. BGSU took two of three from NIU to start MAC play March 25-27 in DeKalb, Ill. The Falcons took Game One 7-2 and shutout the Huskies in Game Two, 8-0. NIU then shutout BGSU 3-0 to salvage the finale.
The teams have never met in the MAC Tournament. |
Barry vs. Bowling Green
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Making just his second start of the season on March 26th, Tom Barry turned in one of his best outings of his career. In 5.1 innings, he allowed the Falcons two earned runs on six hits and four walks with a career-high nine strikeouts.
However, BGSU starter Nick Bruns was better as he stymied the NIU bats to give Barry his first loss of the year. Bruns twirled a complete-game shutout, giving up just three hits and two walks with 12 strikeouts. The shutout was just one of three thrown against NIU in 2011, all coming in MAC play. |
| Huskies Well-Represented on All-MAC Teams |
Four Huskies made All-MAC Teams as the league announced its annual awards Tuesday night. Voted on by the MAC coaches, Alex Jones and Jeff Zimmerman were First Team selections, while Tony Manville and Troy White garnered Second Team nods. Additionally, Zimmerman was crowned as the league’s Freshman of the Year, marking the first time in program history that a rookie has won the honor.
Fittingly, the accolade comes in a year that saw three other Huskies take the league’s top first-year honor. The Tinley Park, Ill., native joins men’s tennis’ Axel Lagerlof, softball’s Stephanie Tofft and volleyball’s Lauren Wicinski as 2011 MAC Freshman of the Year recipients.
The four All-MAC selections ties a program record that was set in 2008. The last time NIU had two First Team honorees was in 2006.
For NIU head coach Ed Mathey, the all-conference selections give him 20 since taking over at NIU in 2003. Overall, the NIU all-time wins leader (240) has 58 career all-league selections in 17 years as a collegiate head coach. |
Mathey's Magic
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In gathering their 29th win of the season last Saturday, despite a 0-10 start to the year, the Huskies moved into a tie for fourth on the NIU all-time single seasons wins list. The last time the program had exactly 29 wins in a campaign was in 1995. Mathey is now responsible for all five of the top winning seasons in NIU history. The program record is 34, which he accomplished in each of the 2003 and 2007 seasons.
Additionally, NIU’s 16 MAC wins tied a Huskie all-time high for conference wins. Mathey achieved the 16-win mark in 2007 and 2008.
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| 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. He is now 11-for-13 in save opportunities, ranking fourth on both the NIU all-time single season and career lists.
Prior to the season, the Oak Park, Ill., native had a career 8.21 ERA in 72.1 innings. Through 26.2 innings in 2011, Glancy has a team-leading 2.03 ERA over 22 appearances, 17 of which have been scoreless. He’s holding opponents to a .232 batting average and has chalked up 23 strikeouts. Even better, Glancy has been the toughest Huskie to hit against with runners on base, allowing a .167 average.
As of May 22nd, Glancy’s 11 saves rank in a tie for second in the Mid-American Conference. As of May 15th, the Oak Park-River Forest High School product ranks 28th 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. |
Brooks Wallace Award is Keeping up with Jones
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On May 5th, junior shortstop Alex Jones was one of 25 shortstops around the country to make the quarterfinal cut of the 2011 Brooks Wallace Award watch list. Since 2009, the honor has been given to the nation’s top shortstop by the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Kansas native is on pace for a career season. Through 55 games, he is hitting a career-high .357 (81-for-227) with a .393 on-base percentage and career-best .515 slugging percentage. He also owns a career-high .965 fielding percentage.
The 2011 two-time MAC West Division Player of the Week honoree already has established several other statistical career highs with 81 hits, 15 doubles, six triples (ranks first on the NIU all-time single season list), 46 RBI and 117 total bases. He also leads the team in multi-hit games (24), batting average, hits, RBI, doubles, triples, total bases and defensive assists (151). |
| Troy White and the Seven RBI |
Junior third baseman Troy White has achieved the feat of seven RBI in one game twice this season. The first came on April 17 in Game Two of a doubleheader at Ohio. After 464 collegiate at-bats without a home run, he launched his first Huskie home run, and three at-bats later, drove a Bobcat offering over the left-field wall for a fifth-inning grand slam. When the damage was totaled for the day, White had notched a career-best seven RBI.
The second came in NIU’s MAC Tournament appearance-clinching win on May 15, as he went 4-for-6 with seven RBI on a pair of two-run singles and a three-run long ball. |
Man of the Hour, Week and Three Months
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| Tony Manville’s current nine-game winning streak has spanned three months, and as of May 15, ranks 12th in the nation. The streak started on March 19 at Southern Illinois and has catapulted him to a tie for first place on the NIU all-time single season win list. During the run, which includes seven starts over 16 appearances, he has posted a 3.60 ERA, allowing 27 runs on 63 hits and 27 walks with 36 strikeouts in 60 innings. |
| It's Not How You Start ... |
Since starting the season 0-10, the Huskies have gone 29-16. Oddly enough, it wasn’t a streak of games at Ralph McKinzie Field, where NIU is 112-70-1 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 16-7 on the road, 3-2 in neutral sites and 10-7 at home.
More importantly, the Huskies won four straight MAC series for the first time since starting the 2007 season, and have won seven of nine 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 44 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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It' All In The Family
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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.
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| Zimm has Zing |
| First baseman/designated hitter Jeff Zimmerman has made a splash in his freshman season. He leads the Huskies with nine home runs and checks in second to Alex Jones with both a .319 average and 43 RBI. The freshman sensation also paces the club with 13 multi-RBI games. The Tinley Park, Ill., native’s homer and RBI totals rank at the top of the list for all-time freshman seasons at NIU. His 13 doubles rank second. Overall, his nine long balls rank fifth on the NIU all-time single season. Among the MAC this season, Zimmerman ranks third in home runs, fifth in RBI and ninth in slugging percentage (.512). |
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.
On Tuesday, Wells earned his first career MAC West Division Player of the Week award. His bat caught fire over NIU’s 3-2 week as he hit .667 (14-for-21) with 11 runs, two doubles, one home run, three RBI, .905 slugging percentage, .682 on-base percentage, one walk and four steals. He also extended his hitting streak to a career-long nine games by getting at least one hit in all five contests. |
MAC Plaque Attack
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With Jamison Wells earning the final Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week award this week, he joined five of his teammates on the list. Troy White picked up NIU’s first of the season on March 1, and three weeks later (March 23), Alex 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), White (April 18) and Jones (April 25) 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 eight 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, 31 players (17 hitters, 14 pitchers) have achieved the accolade under head coach Ed Mathey since 2003. |
| 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 22nd. Alex Jones is first in hits (80), third in RBI (46), fourth in total bases (116), fifth in doubles (15) and triples (6), sixth in batting average (.359) and eighth in slugging percentage (.520); Jamison Wells is first in runs scored (53), second in steals (26), fifth in doubles (15) and seventh in hits (70); Jeff Zimmerman is third in home runs (9) and fifth in RBI (43) and ninth in slugging percentage (.517); Joe Etcheverry is first in walks (35) and eighth in on-base percentage (.423); Troy White is fourth in RBI (44) and triples (4) and sixth in runs scored (44). Tony Manville ranks first in wins (9); Kyle Glancy ranks second in saves (11); Zach Oates ranks third in innings per start (6.85); Tom Zelasko ranks fifth in appearances (23). As a team, NIU has drawn the most walks (227), hurled the second-most shutouts (5), scored the second-most runs (333) and ranks third in batting average (.286).
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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.
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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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Streaks
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Tom Barry: Thrown at least six innings in four straight starts.
Joe Battaglia: Reached base safely in five straight games.
Joe Etcheverry: Reached base safely in three straight games.
Kyle Glancy: Five consecutive scoreless appearances over 4.2 innings with six strikeouts.
Alex Jones: Reached base safely in 10 straight games.
Alex Klonowski: Three straight scoreless appearances over 2.2 innings; Reached base safely in three straight games.
Tom Kotis: Reached base safely in three straight games.
Tony Manville: Nine-game winning streak; Seven-game winning streak in games he’s started; Thrown at least six innings in three straight starts.
Jamison Wells: Reached base safely in 15 consecutive games; Career-best 10-game hitting streak.
Troy White: Reached base safely in 11 straight games; Eight-game hitting streak.
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| Boys of Summer |
| 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. |
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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