April 22, 2008

Box Score

Box Score in PDF Format

GENEVA, Ill. - Northern Illinois built a 3-0 lead in the first inning and held on for a 4-3 triumph over Illinois-Chicago Tuesday night at Elfstrom Stadium, home of the Kane County Cougars. Starter Matt Jernstad (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) turned in his best performance of the season and Justin Behm (Downers Grove, Ill./North) blasted a two-run home run to lead the Huskies (17-19).

NIU scored in the first inning for the 11th time in the last 12 outings when a RBI single by Jordin Hood (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) plated Jeff Thomas (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem) for the game's initial tally. Two batters later, Behm belted a two-run round-tripper over the center field fence to give the Huskies a three-run advantage.

The Flames cut the deficit to one with a pair of runs in the fifth on a double by Tony Altavilla and a sacrifice fly by Rafael Garcia.

UIC threatened in the sixth by loading the bases with one out before Jernstad induced a key, inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

The Huskies added an insurance run in the seventh that later proved to be key. With the bases loaded, a wild pitch enabled Nick Badgley (McHenry, Ill./McHenry CC) to score from third to make it 4-2.

In the ninth, UIC took advantage of a pair of Huskie errors that allowed Kevin Coddington to reach base and later score to draw the Flames within one at 4-3. With two outs and the tying run at second, Andy Deain (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) finished the game with a strikeout to preserve the victory.

Jernstad (1-4) posted his best outing of the season while earning his first victory of the year. The lefthander went 7.1 innings while allowing just four hits, two earned runs and two walks with three strikeouts. Dan Atkenson (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) worked 1.1 innings without allowing a hit before Deain closed the door in the ninth.

Behm, who extended his career-long hitting streak to 10 games with his homer, led the Huskies with two RBI on the night. Dave Reynolds (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) paced the offense with two hits and Hood contributed a single that ran his own hit streak to 10 games.

Chris Kovacevich (1-4) took the loss for UIC (22-16).

Northern Illinois hosts Illinois State tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. at Ralph McKinzie Field in a makeup of the originally scheduled April 1 contest. The game can be heard locally on WLBK (1360-AM) and worldwide on NIUHuskies.com.

HUSKIE TRACKS
-Justin Behm's home run was his first of the season in a non-conference game. Each of his first seven round-trippers had come in MAC contests.
-Northern Illinois is 4-2 this season and 24-7 over the past two years against Illinois Division I teams. The Huskies are 46-21 against intrastate opposition under Ed Mathey.
-The Huskies have won four consecutive games at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva and have defeated UIC in each of the last three meetings.
-NIU second baseman Marvin Sanchez and UIC shortstop Rafael Garcia squared off for the first time against one another. The cousins had formed the double play combination on their teams from age 12 through high school at Clemente Academy.

-NIU-