April 26, 2008

G1 Recap: Thomas Walk Off Single Lifts Huskies to 5-4 Victory Over Eastern Michigan

Box Score

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DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois scored three runs in the second and four in the fourth to notch a 7-4 victory in Saturday's nitecap against Eastern Michigan at Ralph McKinzie Field. The Huskies (19-21, 11-7) used a balanced offensive attack that featured a season-high five stolen bases and two home runs to secure the doubleheader sweep and series victory.

"Winning series is what we want to do and this weekend was a big win for us," said head coach Ed Mathey. "I thought we responded very well today, especially with playing two games, after losing a close one yesterday. Eastern Michigan played well but we responded in both games and I thought we pitched well all weekend."

After Eastern Michigan jumped out to a 2-0 lead on solo home run by Steve Bradshaw in the first and a Michael Boyd RBI single in the second, the Huskies took the lead with three runs in the second.

NIU got its first run of the game when Danny Reed (Lindstrom, Minn./North Iowa Area CC) scored from third on an errant pickoff throw. A RBI groundout by Jeff Thomas (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem) tied the score before Bobby Stevens (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) belted a triple to left center that plated Tim Kamin (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) for a 3-2 lead.

After the Eagles drew even at three in the third, Kamin put the Huskies back on top with a solo home run over the left field fence that was a harbinger of things to come. Later in the frame, Jordin Hood (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) blasted a two-run shot that just cleared the left field foul pole, extended his hitting streak to 14 games and put NIU ahead 6-3. A wild pitch on a walk to Reed allowed Justin Behm (Downers Grove, Ill./North) to score from third to cap the inning scoring with a four-run cushion.

Eastern Michigan trimmed the lead back to three in the seventh behind a Zack Leonard RBI single for the game's final 7-4 margin.

Kamin led the Huskies with three hits, equaling his career-high, while Behm, who extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games, and Stevens each had two. Eight of the nine Huskie starters had hits in the game.

Adam Holdenrid (Mendota, Ill./Mendota) earned the win (4-3) with 6.1 innings, 10 scattered hits, three earned runs and four strikeouts. Andy Deain (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) notched his fourth save of the year and set a career-high with six strikeouts in two scoreless innings of work. Kevin Wammes (1-2) was the losing pitcher in relief for Eastern Michigan (15-26, 11-4).

The Huskies return to action with a non-conference game Tuesday at UW-Milwaukee, a rematch of a 3-2, 10-inning NIU victory in DeKalb on April 2.

HUSKIE TRACKS
-Northern Illinois completed its third MAC doubleheader sweep of the year, its highest since rejoining the league.
-The Huskies are 4-0-1 in doubleheaders this season, including three consecutive sweeps in MAC play.
-Northern Illinois stole a season-high five bases in the game, including a career-high two by Dave Reynolds.
-Bobby Stevens set a new Northern Illinois single season record with his 19th hit by pitch of the season.
-Jeff Thomas moved into a tie for sixth on the NIU career stolen bases list with 34.
-Anthony Maziur had three sacrifice hits in the game.

-NIU-