May 22, 2008

Box Score

Box Score in PDF Format

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio - After six innings of back and forth scoring, Kent State tallied for the final three runs of the game for a 10-6 victory over Northern Illinois Thursday night at the MAC Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium. The Huskies (27-25) will now face Ball State in an elimination game Friday at 11:30 a.m. CT with the winner of that contest advancing to face Kent State and having to win consecutive games to reach the championship game.

"Our hitters did a good job against a first team all-MAC pitcher and we battled back and had some chances in this game," said head coach Ed Mathey. "We didn't capitalize on our opportunity in the sixth inning. Kent State is a good hitting team and they were up for the challenge tonight."

Kent State scored first, pushing a run across on a RBI groundout by Anthony Gallas before a solo home run by Greg Rohan to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

The Huskies responded in the second inning with three runs to take the lead. Dave Reynolds (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and Pat Minogue (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) each hit solo home runs over the right field fence that evened the game at two. NIU took the lead later in the frame when Anthony Maziur (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) scored on a sacrifice fly by Bobby Stevens (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep).

After a two-run home run by Anthony Gallas reclaimed the lead for the Golden Flashes in the third, Northern Illinois answered in the fourth and went back ahead 5-4 when Danny Reed (Lindstrom, Minn./North Iowa Area CC) blasted a two-run homer to straightaway center field.

In the bottom of the fourth, Kent State knotted the game at five on a sacrifice fly by Cory Hindel and took the lead on a RBI single by Chris Tremblay. One inning later, the Flashes went up 7-5 on a RBI groundout by Jared Bartholomew.

The Huskies got back within a run in the sixth on a RBI single by Maziur that plated Joe Buonavolanto (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale South), who led off the frame with a double to left-center field.

Kent State loaded the bases in its half of the sixth and scored a run when Rohan was hit by pitch to make it 8-6. The Flashes thwarted a Huskie scoring attempt in the seventh when Bartholomew threw a perfect strike to the plate from right field to get Justin Behm (Downers Grove, Ill./North) trying to score from second.

A two-run home run by Doug Sanders in the eighth extended the Kent State lead to four and provided the game's final margin.

Reynolds, Minogue and Maziur each collected two hits for the Huskies and Reed led with two RBI.

Adam Holdenrid (Mendota, Ill./Mendota) took the loss (5-5) after 4.1 innings, eight hits and seven earned runs.

Kent State starter Kyle Smith notched the win (9-1) despite giving up eight hits and six earned runs over 5.1 innings.

Friday's NIU-Ball State game can be heard locally on WLBK (1360-AM) and worldwide on NIUHuskies.com at 11:30 a.m.. Complete tournament information and results are available on the MAC's official website, MAC-Sports.com.

HUSKIE TRACKS
-Bobby Stevens tied the all-time NIU record with his 44th career hit by pitch.
-Northern Illinois is now 1-4 all-time against Kent State in MAC Tournament games.
-Anthony Maziur tied his career-high with two hits in the game, matching his total on May 12 vs. Northern Iowa.
-The Huskies have hit five home runs in their two MAC Tournament games.
-Pat Minogue is hitting .412 (7-for-17) against Kent State this season.

-NIU-