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UNI Wraps Up Road Swing at Minnesota, Illinois State
April 8, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
THIS WEEK IN PANTHER BASEBALL Date Opponent Place Time April 9 at Minnesota Minneapolis, Minn. 3 p.m. The University of Northern Iowa baseball team will wrap up a seven-game road swing this week when it plays at Minnesota in the Metrodome on Wednesday and plays a three-game series at Illinois State starting Friday. The Panthers have won 11 of their last 13 contests, and they are tied for first in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 5-1 record. The Panthers are coming off back-to-back MVC series wins after claiming a sweep of Evansville and winning games two and three at Indiana State. It's the first time UNI has put together consecutive Valley series wins since claiming three series against Illinois State, Creighton and Bradley in 2005. The 5-1 MVC start is the best for UNI since entering the Valley. This will be the second meeting between UNI and Minnesota this season. The Golden Gophers claimed the first game, 11-9. The Panthers racked up 16 hits in the loss, but they left 11 men stranded in the back-and-forth game. The Panthers are hitting .312 as a team, and over the last 10 games they are holding opponents to a .192 average. UNI is averaging more than 10 hits and seven runs per game during that span. UNI's .312 average ranks third in the Missouri Valley Conference. Brandon Douglas leads UNI with a .393 average on the season, ranking fourth in The Valley. He has 13 doubles on the year, leading the league. He strikes out only once in every 22.5 at bats, making him the 15th-toughest batter to strike out in the nation. Along with his .325 average, Brett Featherston is the MVC leader with 31 walks. He ranks 10th nationally in walks, and is third in the nation in walks per game (1.19) Guido Fonseca is the only pitcher in the MVC with a 6-0 record, and one of 14 pitchers nationally with at least six wins and no losses. That is the best start to the season by a UNI pitcher since Nic Ungs started the year 7-0 in 2001. LEADING OFF... • Chris Lopez hit three home runs in the Panthers' 17-3 win over Grand View on Wednesday. The senior hit the first two in back-to-back at-bats in the first and second innings. It was the first time a Panther has had three home runs in one game since Ryan Brunner accomplished the feat at Air Force in 2001. Lopez was one of three Panthers to hit a home run in the contest. • When Taylor Sinclair hit David Brumagin with a pitch in the fifth inning Sunday afternoon it was his 33rd batter hit by a pitch, giving him the career record at UNI. He passed the mark of 32 HBP set by Mike Irvine from 1992-95. Sinclair ranks sixth in the UNI career record books with 223.1 innings pitched. SCOUTING MINNESOTA The Golden Gophers are 13-14, coming off of a 1-3 series loss to Ohio State. With a home record of 11-6, the Metrodome has been a lot friendlier than the road to the Gophers who are 2-8 in away games. Minnesota faced the Panthers earlier this season in the Metrodome Tournament, defeating UNI 11-9. Junior outfielder Matt Nohelty leads the Minnesota batting attack with some impressive numbers that rank in the top tier of Division I baseball. Nohelty is in the top 50 in the hit category with 48 hits and is in the top 10 in the triple category with 4 triples. His current batting average is .407. As far as pitching, juniors Tom Buske and Kyle Carr have frequented the mound the most for the Gophers. Buske has an ERA of 3.6 with 31 strikeouts while Carr's season has accumulated an ERA of 3.8 with 32 strikeouts. John Anderson is in his 27th year coaching the Gophers. Earlier this year, Anderson was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE The Redbirds recently earned their first three conference wins as they swept Evansville 3-0. They currently rank 8th in the MVC with a conference record of 3-6 and an overall record of 13-13. Earlier in the season, Illinois State was swept by both Creighton and Wichita State. Junior standout Kevin Dubler leads the Redbirds in virtually every offensive category so far this season, boasting a .375 batting average, a .625 slugging percentage, and a .504 on base percentage. Sophomore Ryan Copeland ranks among the top MVC pitchers with an ERA of 2.31, 3rd in the MVC. Head coach Jim Brownlee is in his 6th year of coaching at his alma mater. Quick Hits • Brandon Douglas is hitting 13-of-26 (.500) with three doubles, a triple and 7 RBIs in MVC play. • Tim Flattery has not allowed a run in his last four appearances (8.0 IP). • The 5-1 start by UNI is the best since joining the MVC. UNI's best start through the first nine conference games of the year was a 7-2 start in 1997. The Panthers got off to a 9-2 start that year before finishing 18-8 in league play. • Nick Kirk's .194 opponent's batting average ranks second in the MVC. MAKING HISTORY Nick Kirk pitched the fifth no-hitter in school history when he blanked Evansville March 28 in the Panthers' MVC opener. Kirk struck out 15 in the win. It was the first no-hitter for the Panthers since 1995, and the first nine-inning no-hitter in the Missouri Valley Conference since 1990. TAKE FIVE Brandon Douglas tallied five hits in the Panthers' win over Evansville on March 29. It was the first five-hit game for a Panther since 2005. Douglas finished the day with three doubles, a triple and a single, and he drove in four and scored four runs. Douglas was 5-of-5 on the day with 10 total bases for a 2.000 slugging percentage. HONORS FOR KIRK After throwing a 15-strikeout no-hitter against Evansville, Nick Kirk was named the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of th Week on March 31. He was also selected as a `Louisville Slugger's' National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball. InsidePitching.com selected Kirk's win as the Performance of the Week. FUN IN THE SUN UNI had a successful trip on its annual spring break trip to Florida. While playing seven games in eight days, UNI finished 6-1 on the trip. UNI dropped its first game, 8-6 to Eastern Illinois, but came back to win six straight, the Panthers' longest win streak since winning seven straight to open the 2006 season. UNI hit .342 as a team during the trip and averaged 8.7 runs per game. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE UNI slugger Brett Featherston is leading the Missouri Valley Conference in walks, drawing 31 so far this season. Fellow senior Dane Embury has drawn 20 walks this season, ranking ninth in The Valley. NOT ONE, BUT TWO GEMS Nick Kirk and Guido Fonseca combined to allow just six hits and one run in 14 innings two sweep Northwestern in a doubleheader on Good Friday. Kirk pitched seven-innings of shutout baseball in the first game, allowing just two hits while striking out seven in seven innings. Fonseca allowed four hits and one unearned run while pitching all seven innings of the second contest. STREAKING After dropping four straight contests, the Panthers won six-game in a row. UNI is hit .348 over that stretch, and the Panthers are averaged9.2 runs per game over those six contests. The streak included three consecutive games where UNI scored 12 or more runs. The six-game streak was the longest for the Panthers since opening the 2006 campaign with seven straight wins. GETTING IT DONE Pitcher Guido Fonseca is having a good start to his senior season. The right-handed hurler is 6-0 in seven starts for UNI. His is the first Valley pitcher to earn four wins, and he is second in the MVC with 47 strike outs on the season. Fonseca led the Panthers with five wins last season A NICE RETURN After sitting out 12 games with an injury, junior center fielder Deric Manrique returned to the starting lineup against Central Connecticut State on Thursday. Playing as the designated hitter that game, he hit 3-of-4 with three runs scored, five RBIs, two doubles and a home run. He hit .500 on the week, going 5-of-10 from the plate with six RBIs. BREAKING OUT Chris Lopez had a break-out weekend at UALR, tallying seven hits, six of them for extra bases. Lopez hit six doubles in the series and two home runs, finishing the weekend with a 1.000 slugging percentage. WHAT A RELIEF The Panther bullpen has been solid for the Panthers this season, especially seniors Nick Lauver, Mike O'Leary, Joe Gonzalez and Tim Flattery. The foursome has combined to pitch 38.2 innings of relief, allowing just 10 earned runs for a combined 2.35 ERA. That group has held opponents to a .201 batting average. FAST START Brandon Douglas got his junior season off to a blistering start. The preseason All-Valley shortstop went 11-of-16 in the series against Centenary, including four doubles. Douglas collected three three-hit games in that series. OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT The first play of the season proved to be a costly one for the Panthers. Preseason All-MVC selection Deric Manrique was able to run out an infield single, but he turned his ankle in the process. Manrique sat out the remainder of the Centenary series and will likely be out of action this weekend. FILLING IN After the injury to Manrique, redshirt freshman Levi Ferguson moved into center field and the leadoff spot for UNI. In his first game as the leadoff man, Ferguson went 3-of-4 from the plate and scored three runs. He hit .375 in the opening series for UNI, and he collected a hit in each of the Panthers' four games. ROAD WARRIORS Once again, the Panthers' early schedule has them traveling. UNI will play its first 20 games away from Riverfront Stadium. UNI will play in four-game series at Centenary and Arkansas-Little Rock, along with a three-game tournament in the Metrodome and the annual nine-game spring trip to Bradenton, Fla. The Panthers will play its first home game on March 26 when they host UW-Platteville. PRESEASON HONORS UNI's Deric Manrique and Brandon Douglas were each tabbed to the preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference team. Manrique and Douglas were each named to the All-MVC first team last season. In 2007, Manrique led the Panthers with a .351 average, and he stole a league-high 30 bases. Douglas is a two-time All-Valley first-team selection. He led the Panthers with 19 doubles a year ago.
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