May 12, 2008

Box Score

Box Score in PDF Format

DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois spotted Northern Iowa a 2-0 lead but scored the game's next six runs and claimed a 7-4 triumph Monday afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field. The win moved the Huskies (24-23) above the .500 mark for the first time this season in their final regular season non-conference contest.

"I thought today was an important win for us after yesterday's game was lost to weather and with our players going through final exams right now and having to work around that," said head coach Ed Mathey. "Our hitters did a good job today and we had a good approach. Our pitches threw well and overall we are playing pretty well and hopefully we can carry that into this weekend's series with Western Michigan."

After falling behind 2-0 on a two-run home run by UNI's Brandon Douglas, the Huskies responded in their first at-bat with a pair of runs to knot the game. Bobby Stevens (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep), who reached base by being hit by pitch, came in to score on a RBI single by Justin Behm (Downers Grove, Ill./North). Two batters later, a sacrifice fly by Danny Reed (Lindstrom, Minn./North Iowa Area CC) plated Jordin Hood (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich).

Northern Illinois took its first lead of the game in the second on a sacrifice fly by Stevens that scored Nick Badgley (McHenry, Ill./McHenry CC).

Two innings later, Stevens doubled home Marvin Sanchez (Chicago, Ill./Clemente Academy), who had reached on a walk.

The Huskies loaded the bases in the fifth and extended their margin to 6-2 behind RBI singles from Dave Reynolds (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg), scoring Behm, and Badgley, plating Matt Behren (Elmwood Park, Ill./Holy Cross).

Northern Iowa trimmed its deficit to two in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Eddie Almonte and a RBI single by Dane Embury that made the score 6-4.

The Huskies added an insurance run in the eighth when Reed was hit by pitch with the bases loaded to force home Stevens.

Brandon Copp (Aurora, Ill./West) earned the win (2-6) in the start and Andy Deain (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) collected his ninth save of the season. Matt Jernstad (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) tossed three perfect innings of relief with two strikeouts.

Anthony Maziur (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) had a career-high two hits and was joined by Behm and Reynolds with multi-hit outings. Stevens and Reed led the Huskies with two RBI a piece.

Mike O'Leary (2-4) took the loss for Northern Iowa (28-20), who enters the final weekend of the regular season in fourth place in the Missouri Valley Conference.

NIU resumes MAC play Thursday with a 3 p.m. game against Western Michigan at Ralph McKinzie Field. The Huskies, second in the MAC West, and Broncos will also play Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. to wrap up the regular season schedule.

HUSKIE TRACKS
-Northern Illinois ended the season 4-3 against the Missouri Valley Conference and upped Ed Mathey's record to 22-15 (.595) against MVC teams. The Huskies have finished .500 or better against Valley opposition during each of Mathey's six seasons.
-Anthony Maziur recorded his first career multi-hit game.
-Danny Reed extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
-Brandon Copp improved his career record to 10-3 in non-conference starts.
-Matt Jernstad moved into 10th place on the NIU career innings list with 216.2.
-Northern Illinois now leads 9-8 in the all-time series between the schools.

-NIU-