Dallas Baptist Too Much For Northern Illinois Friday Night :: Patriots combine to score seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings for 13-2 win

Patriots combine to score seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings for 13-2 win

March 14, 2008

DALLAS, Texas - Dallas Baptist took advantage of 12 walks and two errors on its way to a 13-2 win over Northern Illinois Friday night at Patriot Field. The Patriots, who received votes in the NCBWA poll, posted their seventh win in the last eight games and improved to 11-4 while the Huskies dropped to 3-10.

NIU got off to a quick start when Bobby Stevens (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) blasted a solo home run, his second of the season, in the first inning before Dallas Baptist evened the game at one and took the lead two innings later.

Down 2-1 in the fifth, the Huskies knotted the game at two when Justin Behm (Downers Grove, Ill./North) walked, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a double by Joe Buonavolanto (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale South).

Dallas Baptist regained the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to go up 4-2 and never looked back. The Patriots got to the Huskie bullpen with four runs in the seventh, keyed by Trevor Head's two run homer, and five in the eighth for the final 13-2 outcome.

"We had a good game going until the seventh inning and things fell apart for us," said head coach Ed Mathey. "Our challenge will be to come back tomorrow and try to get a win against a good ballclub. Brandon Copp bounced back nicely from his last outing and got us deep into the game and Bobby Stevens had a good night at the plate. Their pitcher did a nice job of keeping us off base and they took advantage of the walks we gave them tonight."

Copp (Aurora, Ill./West) took the loss to fall to 1-2 after working 6.0 innings and allowing five hits and four earned runs with five walks and four strikeouts. DBU's Chris McMullen (2-1) earned the win after yielding four hits and two earned runs over 6.2 innings.

Stevens led the way offensively for NIU with a 2-for-3 performance that included his first inning round-tripper, a double and a stolen base. Danny Reed (Lindstrom, Minn./North Iowa Area CC) had a single in the game to extend his hitting streak to 11.

The Huskies wrap up their spring trip Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. with the final game of the three-game series at Dallas Baptist.

HUSKIE TRACKS
-Danny Reed's 11-game hitting streak is the second longest of his Huskie career. He posted a 15-game streak last season, tying him for the second-best on record at NIU.
-Reed's ninth double in his 13th game of the season matches his 2007 56-game total.
-NIU fell to 2-6 when scoring first and 1-6 when scoring in the first inning this season.
-Jeff Thomas' career-best 12-game hit streak ended when he went 0-for-4.
-The 12 walks issued by NIU pitchers tied for the third-highest single game total on record.

-NIU-